Our brains work in complex and strange ways．There are some people who can calculate the day of the week for any given date in 40,000 years, but who cannot add two plus two．Others can perform complex classical piano pieces after hearing them once, but they cannot read or write．
Dr．J．Langdon Down first described this condition in 1887．He called these people idiot savants．An idiot savant is a person who has significant mental impairment （损伤） , such as in autism ( 孤独症，自闭症) or retardation．At the same time, the person also exhibits some extraordinary skills, which are unusual for most people．The skills of the savant may vary from being exceptionally gifted in music or in mathematics, or having a photographic memory．
One of the first descriptions of a human who could calculate quickly was written in 1789 by Dr．Benjamin Rush, an American doctor．His patient, Thomas Fuller, was brought to Virginia as a slave in1724．It took Thomas only 90 seconds to work out that a man who has lived 70 years, 17 days, and 12 hours has lived 2,210,500,800 seconds．Despite this ability, he died in 1790 without ever learning to read or write．
Another idiot savant slave became famous as a pianist in the 1860s．Blind Tom had a vocabulary of only 100 words, but he played 5 ,000 musical pieces beautifully．
In the excellent movie Rain Man, made in 1988 and available on video cassette, Dustin Hoffman plays an idiot savant who amazes his brother played by Tom Cruise, with his ability to perform complex calculations very rapidly．
Today we more clearly recognize that the idiot savant is special because of brain impairment．Yet not all brain impairment leads to savant skills．Some studies have shown that people who have purposeful interruption of the left side of the brain can develop idiot savant skills．However few people wish to participate in such experiments．There are many excellent reasons for not undergoing unnecessary experimentation on one's brain．The term idiot savant is outdated and inappropriate．Virtually all savants have a high degree of intelligence and are thus not idiots．
72．What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．Idiot savants have areas of outstanding abilities．
B．Human Beings have complicated thinking process．
C．The brains of the idiot savants are partly impaired．
D．The reasons why people have wonderful skills vary．
73．Which of the following can be done by Rain Man?
A．He can play wonderful pieces of classical music．
B．He can guess out exactly the length of a man's life．
C．He can memorize the contents of the pictures fast．
D．He can count matches dropped on the floor quickly．
64．What can you infer from the passage?
A．Idiot savants have real talents for art and math．
B．Dr．Down is the first person who found idiot savants．
C．Few people wish to risk becoming savants by brain operations．
D．Intentional left brain impairments will surely lead to idiot savants．
75．Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
When someone steps on your toe by accident, you will hurt plenty．But it hurts even more, if you think the person does the same thing on purpose．Earlier studies have found that the feeling of pain can change with how it is experienced．That is why giving people sugar pills and saying they are medicine can make them feel better．
This study examined whether self-reported pain is indeed higher when the events producing the pain are understood as intentionally caused by another person．For the study, the researchers told 40 volunteers that they were going to do a series of tasks, including color matching, number counting and discomfort assessment．This last task involved their receiving a brief electric shock to the wrist．They were told that a partner, sitting in another room, would choose which task they would do, and a computer screen helped them to know their partner’s choice．
In some cases, the volunteers were told their partner had chosen the pain tolerance test．In others, they were told the computers would select the pain tolerance test regardless of their partner’s choice．When volunteers thought that their partners were making the shocks on them on purpose, the feeling made the pain worse．As a matter of fact, they were the same．
This study provides evidence that the experience of pain changes depending upon how they think when people have been harmed．Specifically, the meaning of a harm — whether it was intended — influences the amount of pain it causes．So, although a broken toe may hurt, an intentionally broken toe should hurt more．It can be concluded from the text that _______．
A．the feeling of pain varies from one person to another k+s-5#u |
| B．long-lasting pain damages people’s health |
| C．pain is greater if harm seems to be intentionally done |
| D．people suffer more from accidental pain |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．People can reduce pain by relaxing． |
| B．Researchers study how pain is caused． |
| C．Everyone should know the effect of pain． |
| D．People should think more about pain． |
What does the underlined word “they” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Volunteers． | B．Computers． |
| C．Shocks． | D．Pains． |
What’s the author’s attitude to the result of the study? k+s-5#u
| A．Indifferent． | B．Sceptical． |
| C．Disapproving． | D．Approving． |
Evening Classes for the Autumn Term
| Advanced French Language Thurs, 6:00-7:30 p．m． This course is for people who have already done French for at least two years．There will be an examination at the end of the course, and a certificate for successful students． |
Car Repairs Thurs, 8:00-9:30 p．m． This is a course for beginners．No experience necessary．Spend less money on garage bills by learning to look after your own car and doing simple repairs at home． |
| First Aid Tues, 6:30-8:30 p．m． Why not study for a certificate in First Aid? People on this course will learn to deal with accidents in the home and at work; what to do in the case of burns, cuts and other common injuries． |
Learning Spanish Wed, 7:00-9:00 p．m． Have fun learning Spanish for your holidays! It will be simple conversational Spanish - the chief purpose of the course is enjoyment．Previous knowledge of the language is unnecessary - anyone can join this course． |
| Discovering Our City's History Mon, Thurs, 6:30-9:00 p．m． Are you curious to learn about the history which is buried beneath the streets of our city? The area has a fascinating history．This term the class will center on the first five hundred years of our city's past． |
Keep Up Office Skills Tues, 7:00-9:00 p．m． At least an opportunity to learn to use the latest electronic office equipment．Increase your typing speed, find out about new business methods and get to know how to run a modern office． |
| 1． |
Nancy wants to work as a secretary in a French company．She will attend courses on _______．
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| 2． |
After reading the advertisement, one will choose the course on Car Repairs mainly because
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| 3． |
What information can we get from the text？
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| 4． |
Where might the text come from?
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Somehow Rey had managed to struggle free from the rope around his neck, after being left to die a slow death as punishment for being a bad Spanish greyhound（猎狗）．
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It is believed that 50,000 greyhounds are killed by their owners in Spain each year after they grow too old, or turn out to be too slow to hunt with．Dogs have also been found thrown into wells, burnt alive and even injected with poison．
But Rey's intended fate（命运） was, even within the levels of cruelty usually shown to Spanish hunting dogs, especially cruel．The rope around his neck had been set at a height so that his front paws could not touch the ground, meaning that he was intended to stand on his back legs until he was too tired to support himself．When his legs finally became too tired, the rope should have done its work．
| A．kicking | B．burying |
| C．hanging | D．drowning |
The underlined word "vet" in（Paragraph 5）probably means “_________”．
| A．animal doctor | B．ambulance |
| C．animal medicine | D．equipment |
What can you infer from the passage? k+s-5#u
| A．Dogs are not kept as pets in Spain． |
| B．Rey was punished because he had not been loyal to his owner． |
| C．The typewriting death is named because a typewriter is used in the punishment． |
| D．Rey didn’t behave very well in the hunting． |
The passage mainly tells the readers about _________．
| A．the cruel killing of dogs in Spain |
| B．how Rey was saved by rescuers |
| C．how Spanish dogs hunt hares |
| D．the fate of the dogs in Spain k+s-5#u |
A few years ago, I was with a close woman friend in a grocery store in California．As we walked along the aisle (过道), we saw a mother with a small boy moving in the opposite direction and met us head-on (正面的) in each aisle．The woman barely noticed us because she was so angry with her little boy, who wanted to pull items off the lower shelves．As the mother became more and more annoyed, she started to yell at the child and several aisles later had progressed to shaking him by the arm．k+s-5#u
At this point my friend spoke up．A wonderful mother of three and founder of a progressive school, she had probably never once in her life treated any child so harshly(严厉地)．I expected my friend would give this woman a solid mother-to-mother talk about controlling herself and about the effect this behavior has on a child．Instead, my friend said, “What a beautiful little boy．How old is he?” The woman answered cautiously, “He’s three．” My friend went on to comment on how curious he seemed and how her own three children were just like him in the grocery store, pulling things off shelves, so interested in all the wonderful colors and packages．“He seems so bright and intelligent,” my friend said．
The woman had the boy in her arms by now and a shy smile came upon her face．Gently brushing his hair out of his eyes, she said, “Yes, he’s very smart and curious, but sometimes he wears me out．” My friend responded sympathetically(表示同情地), “Yes, they can do that; they are so full of energy．”
As we walked away, I heard the mother speaking kindly to the boy about getting home and cooking his dinner．“We’ll have your favorite — macaroni(通心面) and cheese,” she told him．The mother was angry with her baby because ．
| A．the mother was very tired k+s-5#u |
| B．the baby asked for more things |
| C．the baby ran madly in the store |
| D．the baby was pulling the goods off the shelves |
We can learn from the passage that the author’s friend ．
| A．treated her children well only |
| B．was probably good to any child |
| C．liked the boy very much |
| D．always wanted to help others |
The author’s friend talked with the mother in that way to ．
| A．show her sympathy for the woman |
| B．know something about the boy first |
| C．show her anger with the woman k+s-5#u |
| D．make the woman realize children’s natural quality |
With the story, the author most probably intends to tell us that ．
| A．we should respect a child’s nature |
| B．we should never blame a child |
| C．mothers usually share the same interest |
D．mothers should try to be gentle and polite k+s-5#u |
Dear Hamilton,
We are fortunate that in such a large, high-pressure office we all get along so well. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don’t know anyone in the office who is better liked than you.
You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees’ personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two wedding gifts, one funeral（葬礼）remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts.
It’s not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable (and poor), but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don’t know them outside the office, who wouldn’t even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives.
This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for), but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today’s office setting.
Thank you for understanding.
63. The underlined word “contributions” probably means ________.
A. moneyB. suggestionsC. reportsD. understanding
64. Hamilton is expected to _______.
A. show more kindness. B. discontinue the present practice
C. quit being the organizer for gift giving D. know more about co-workers’ families
65. This is basically a letter of ________.
A. apology B. sympathy C. appreciation D. Dissatisfaction