2 . Art is all around us. It can be found everywhere, including fancy galleries, people’s living rooms, and on the sides of buildings. So, why is art important?

It promotes expression and creativity. As humans, we’re naturally drawn to art as a form of expression and communication.     1     It’s a way for them to express themselves before they’re able to speak. In fact, participation in the arts may even assist kids with language, motor skills, and visual learning development.

    2    . When someone applies for a job, there are certain skills they need to have like data analysis or bookkeeping. However, many employers also understand the very important need for the skills which are hard to measure and often difficult to define. Some examples include a person’s ability to adapt to change, think creatively, or collaborate with team members.

It provides historical context.     3    . This is why people dedicate their lives to studying cave art, Shakespearean plays, and so much more. When we take the time to dive into art created in the past, we can learn about other generations and eras. We can study art to find out what those before us were facing and how they overcame it.     4    .

In therapy (疗法) settings, art also provides an opportunity for digging deeper and expressing emotions that are difficult to discuss.     5    . In one important study, children between 6 and 12 were asked to draw a house as a distraction after thinking about something upsetting. This group was able to improve their mood when compared with children who were instructed to draw the negative event or simply copy another drawing.

A．These are its major benefits.

B．Children love to draw, sing, and dance.

C．It helps all of us develop necessary soft skills.

D．How does it have an impact on our life?

E．Similarly, future generations will learn about our current events by the art we leave behind.

F．Art and human history go hand-in-hand.

G．It can help people lift their spirits.

4 . Teenagers from low-income families in particular are more likely than their middle-class peers 同龄人)to do less well in schoolwork and to drop out of school. Studies have shown, however, that a positive attitude towards schoolwork and the support and encouragement from their parents can help at-risk youngsters to overcome the economic barriers(障碍) and lack of resources they face. Most of the evidence about the effects of parental involvement(参与) comes from research on mothers. Little is known, however, about how teenagers experience their fathers, warmth and the beliefs and behavior that are most affected by it.

This new study is part of a large one focusing on low-income families conducted in four middle schools in the southwestern United States. Researchers asked 183 sixth-graders about how optimistic and motivated they were about their school work, and how they experienced their fathers’ warmth. The students’ maths and language arts grades were also gained. The research team took into account the influence that mothers have on their children’s well-being in their analyses.

Their findings show how fathers can support their teenagers in ways that result in greater optimism and higher achievement at school. “ Low-income fathers affect their teenagers’ beliefs about themselves and their future, and these beliefs influence their achievement by increasing their determination to accomplish school tasks,” says Dr, Marie-Anne.

These positive effects extend(延伸) to both sons and daughters, although in different ways.   Experiencing their fathers’ warmth first influences daughters’ sense of optimism, and then spills over into their feeling more determined and certain about their academic abilities. This in turn leads to better maths grades. There is a more direct link between their fathers’ love and boys’ belief in their ability to succeed in academy.

1. What is more likely to happen to teenagers from low-income families?

A．They will be more determined to struggle.

B．They will have fewer happy things to share.

C．They will receive less love from their parents.

D．They will fail in their studies and quit school.

2. How is the new research different from the previous ones?

A．It only researches families in the north of America.

B．It only studies low-education families in the world.

C．It mainly focuses on the effects of fathers’ involvement.

D．It combines questionnaire data and students, grades.

3. What can we know about fathers’ warmth?

A．It is less effective than that of mothers.	B．It affects girls and boys in different ways.
C．It mainly applies to girls rather than boys.	D．It has a more direct effect on girls than on boys.

4. Which of the following best explains “accomplish” underlined in the last two paragraph?

A．complete

B．affect

C．suspect

D．decrease

7 . Maths anxiety may be causing a national crisis, Cambridge University researchers have said, as they find that one in ten children suffer from anxiety at the subject.

Researchers surveyed 1,700 British pupils aged 8 to 13 about their feelings towards the subject. They found 10% of children suffered from maths anxiety. Other feelings caused by maths included fear and anger, while physical symptoms included a racing heart or struggling to catch breath.

“The project studied students’ attitudes towards maths because of what could be called a maths crisis in the UK,” researchers said. “Many children and adults experience feelings of anxiety, fear or discomfort when they face maths. This may be leading to a low level of maths in the country.” The number of adults with functional maths skills equal to a GCSE (英国普通中等教育证书) grade C has dropped from 26% in 2003 to only 22% in 2011, according to the survey. At the same time, only 57% of the children achieved the same level in functional maths skills.

Dr. Denes Szucs, a professor at Cambridge’s Centre for Neuroscience (神经科学) in Education said that there is a misunderstanding that only low performing children suffer from maths anxiety. “This is a common misunderstanding that we have seen in decision makers,” he said. “They assume people are anxious about maths because they are poor achievers.” In fact, more than 77% of children with high levels of maths anxiety are normal to high achievers. Dr Szucs went on, “Probably their maths anxiety will go unnoticed because their performance is good. But they are very worried and in the long term their performance is limited. This is a real danger here: these are children who are completely able to do maths at a normal level, but may keep away from it because they feel anxious.” The research also found that girls have higher levels of maths anxiety than boys.

John’s Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation said, “Mathematical achievement is valuable, as a foundation for many other subjects and as an important predictor of future academic learning, job hunting and even health. Maths anxiety can seriously influence students’ performance in both primary and secondary schools.”

1. What can we learn from the survey conducted by the Cambridge University researchers?

A．High performing children are safe from maths anxiety.

B．Adults suffer lower levels of maths anxiety than children.

C．Children with maths anxiety suffers both physically and mentally.

D．Girls’ bad performance leads to their high levels of maths anxiety.

2. Why did the researchers study students’ attitudes towards maths?

A．They want to help improve students’ academic performance.

B．Maths anxiety may cause great damage to children’s development.

C．They intend to correct people’s misunderstanding on maths anxiety.

D．The maths anxiety shared by people of all ages caused a national crisis.

3. How does the author prove there may be a national maths crisis in the UK in paragraph 3?

A．Presenting data.	B．Listing reasons.
C．Giving definition.	D．Providing examples.

4. In paragraph 4, Dr. Denes Szucs found that ________ .

A．boys suffered a higher level of maths anxiety than girls

B．maths anxiety of low performing children goes unnoticed

C．some of the high achievers also suffered from math anxiety

D．poor achievers might have physical problem in the long term

5. Which of the questions could probably be answered in the paragraph that follows?

A．What should be done to improve students’ performance in maths?

B．What can be done to make children comfortable with maths?

C．How does maths anxiety influence people’s health?

D．How can children acquire functional skills?

9 . Think back to when you were in a classroom, maybe a maths classroom, and the teacher set a difficult problem. Which of the two following answers is closer to the way you reacted?

A: Oh no, this is too hard for me. I’m not even going to seriously try and work it out.

B: Ah, this is quite tricky but I like to push myself. Even if I don’t get the answer right, maybe I’ll learn something if I try.

Early in her career, the psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University gave a group of ten-year-olds problems that were a little too hard for them. One group reacted positively, said they loved challenge and understood that their abilities could be developed. She says they had a “growth mindset”and are focused on what they can achieve in the future. But another group of children felt that their intelligence was being judged and they had failed. They had a “fixed mindset” and were unable to imagine improving. Some of these children said they might cheat in the future; others looked for someone who had done worse than them to increase their self-confidence.

Professor Dweck believes that there is a problem in education at the moment. For years, children have been praised for their intelligence or talent, but this makes them vulnerable to failure. They become performance-oriented (i.e. interested in the result), wanting to please by getting high grades, but they are not necessarily interested in learning for its own sake. The solution, according to Dweck, is to praise the process that children are involved in: making an effort, using learning strategies and improving. This way they will become mastery-oriented (i.e. interested in getting better at something) and will achieve more. She says that effort over time is the key to outstanding achievement.

Psychologists have been testing these theories. Students were taught that if they left their comfort zone and learned something new and difficult, the neurons (神经元) in their brains would form stronger connections, making them more intelligent. These students made faster progress than a control group. In another study, underperforming school children on a Native American reservation (保护区) were using growth mindset techniques for a year. The results were extremely successful. They came top in regional tests, beating children from much more advanced backgrounds. These children had felt that making an effort was a sign of stupidity in the past, but they came to see it as the key to learning.

So, back to our original question. If you answered B, well done-you already have a growth mindset. If A, don’t worry; everyone is able of becoming mastery-oriented with a little effort and self-awareness.

1. The students with a “growth mindset” will ________.

A．cheat in the future

B．like to take on challenges

C．get high grades to please others

D．look for someone who had done worse than them

2. What does the underlined sentence “this makes them vulnerable to failure” mean?

A．It’s easy for them to succeed.	B．It’s difficult for them to give up.
C．They’re proud of their talent.	D．They’re not likely to achieve success.

3. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．How to be a best learner?	B．What’s the growth mindset?
C．Do you have the right mindset?	D．What’s the key to success?

10 . The world becomes a better place when we not only recognize that everyone has bad days, but when we also care enough to act accordingly. No matter what kind of bad experience we experience, we should treat it actively. Fourth-grade teacher Rachel Harder recognized this, and she found an amazing way to help out both her students and their families.

A few years ago, the Kansas teacher attended a trauma (心理创伤) conference. She learned that some police stations partner with schools so they can let teachers know when one of their students has a police encounter, something that could cause them to need extra care or attention. A year after the conference, Rachel had a student with autism (自闭症) who frequently had tough days. To support the student, Rachel told his mom to simply text her “handle with care” to let her know when it was going to be one of those days.

The simple method was such a success that Rachel decided to send all her students home with a note for their parents. It explained what the “Handle with Care” system was and how they could take advantage of it. In no time, parents began to show their appreciation for Rachel’s incredible act of kindness. But Rachel’s sympathy didn’t end with her class. Word spread of the amazing system, and teachers across the country began giving it a shot in their own classrooms. Printouts can be found on the Smart School House website, and the feedback has been extremely positive!

Even though teachers can sometimes tell when a student is having a tough day just by the way they’re acting, Rachel said these simple texts allow educators to make minor adjustments in advance that, in turn, make the whole day better for everyone. “It’s important for me to give kids a few minutes of extra time or space,” she said, “and it’s easy to give.”

1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．The tough time in life.	B．The beauty of nature.
C．A positive attitude to hardship.	D．An extreme working style.

2. How did Rachel help the student with autism?

A．By supporting him to do what he wants.	B．By discussing his trauma in a conference.
C．By knowing his state at home from his mother.	D．By getting assistance from some police stations.

3. Why did Rachel send notes to the parents of all her students?

A．To prove the behavior is efficient.	B．To inform the parents of her method.
C．To explain the kindness to the parents.	D．To gain the parents’ sympathy for herself.

4. Which of the following can best describe Rachel?

A．Curious and courageous.	B．Energetic and grateful.
C．Humorous and warm-hearted.	D．Responsible and considerate.