Do you want to improve the way you study? Do you feel nervous before a test? Many students say that a lack of concentration (注意力) is their biggest problem. It seriously affects their ability to study, so do their test results.
If so, use these tips to help you.
Study Techniques
You should always study in the same place. You shouldn’t sit in a position that you use for
another purpose. For example, when you sit on a sofa to study, your brain will think it is time to relax. Don’t watch TV while you are studying. Experts warn that your concentration may be reduced by 50 percent if you attempt to study in this way. Always try to have a white wall in front of you, so there is nothing to distract (make less concentrated) you. Before sitting down to study, gather together all the equipment you need. Apart from your textbooks, pens, pencils and knives, make sure you have a dictionary. If your study desk or table is needed when you are not studying, store all your equipment in a box beside it .
Your eyes will become tired if you try to read a text which is on a flat surface. Position your
book at an angle of 30 degrees.
Be realistic and don’t try to complete too much in one study period. Finish one thing before
beginning another. If you need a break, get up and walk around for a few minutes, but try not to telephone a friend or have something to eat.
Test-taking Skills
All your hard work will be for nothing if you are too nervous to take your test. Getting plenty
of rest is very important. This means do not study all night before your test! It is a better idea to have a long-term study plan. Try to make a timetable for your study which lasts for a few months.
Exercise is a great way to reduce pressure. Doing some form of exercise every day will also
improve your concentration. Eat healthy food too.
When you arrive in the examination room, find your seat and sit down. Breathe slowly and
deeply. Check the time on the clock during the test, but not too often. Above all, take no notice of everyone else and give the test paper your undivided attention.
54. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. You should study in a different place every day, so you don’t get bored.
B. Your concentration will improve if you study and watch TV at the same time.
C. Check the time during the exam at a certain time.
D. Staying up all night and studying is tiring, but you will learn a lot using this method.
55. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in the 3rd paragraph?
A. Your study desk or table. B. Your textbook.
C. Your dictionary. D. The equipment you need.
56. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. You shouldn’t look at everyone else during the test.
B. You will have enough energy to deal with your study and exams by eating healthy diet.
C. You’ll concentrate more if there is nothing to distract you.
D. If you feel tired during study, you can walk around for a few minutes.
The plan: turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields, and then fill it with creatures (生物) from the earth. This idea may sound like something from a science fiction (科幻小说), but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers.
This suggested future for the “red planet” will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA (美国宇航局) this week. Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event. It comes as NASA is preparing a multibilliondollar Mars research programme. “Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction,”said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA’s senior scientist for astrobiology (太空生物学). “Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can ask what are the real possibilities of changing Mars.”
Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal.
But many experts are shocked by the idea. “We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet,” said Paul Murdin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK. Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident they will find Martian life forms. Europe and America’s robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet.
In addition, two different groups of scientists announced on March 28 that they had found signs of methane (甲烷) in the Martian atmosphere (大气). The gas is a waste product of living creatures and could be produced by microbes (微生物) living in the red planet’s soil.
But scientists such as Dr Lisa Pratt, a biologist at Indiana University, say that these microbes will be put in danger by the little earth project. “Before we have even discovered if there is life on Mars, we are talking about carrying out projects that would destroy all these native lifeforms, all the strange microbes that we hope to find buried in the soil,” said Dr Pratt. This view is shared by Monica Grady, a planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum, London. “We cannot risk starting a global experiment that would wipe out the precious information we are looking for.” she said, “This is just wrong.”
5. The passage is about________.
A. a plan turning Mars into a little earth
B. the necessity of changing Mars
C. Mars supporting life
D. finding water in the Mars
6. Which of the following is NOT the reason why some scientists are against the plan?
A. The project would wipe out all the native lifeforms on the Mars.
B. The project will cost too much money and work.
C. We would ruin Mars.
D. We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed.
7. We can infer from the passage that________.
A. water is a crucial factor for life
B. the project will have little effect on the native lifeforms supposed to live on the Mars
C. Monica Grady is in favour of carrying out the little earth project
D. the idea turning Mars into a little earth is nothing but a science fiction
8. Which of the following supports the conclusion of microbes living in the Mars’s soil?
A. Scientists found liquid water in the Mars.
B. Scientists found signs of methane in the Martian atmosphere.
C. Scientists found a lot of good soil on the Mars.
D. Scientists found some creatures living on the Mars.
Can trees talk? Yes — but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do
communicate with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars(毛毛虫)changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special vapor—a signal causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.
Communication, of course, does not need to be in words. We can talk each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending messages?
1.It can be inferred from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that .
A.have an unpleasant taste
B.are lying on the ground
C.have an unfamiliar shape
D.bees don’t like
2.According to the passage, the willow tree was able to communicate with each other by .
A.waving its branches B.giving off a special vapor
C.dropping its leaves D.changing the color of its trunk
3.According to the passage, bees communicate by .
A.touching one another B.smiling one another
C.making special movement D.making unusual sound
4.The author believes that the incident described in the passage .
A.cannot be taken seriously B.seems completely reasonable
C.should no longer be permitted D.must be checked more thorough
The Migration of Birds
Here is a scientific experiment on the homing of birds, the fact of which are quite certain. A few years ago seven swallows were caught near their nests at Bremen in Germany. They were marked with a red dye on some of their white feathers, so that they could easily been seen. Then they were taken by plane to Croydon, near London. This is a distance of 400 miles.
Then the seven swallows were set free at Croydon. Five of them flew back to their nests at Bremen. How did the birds find their way on that long journey, which they had never made before? That is the great puzzle. It is no good saying that the swallows have a sense of direction. These are just words and explain nothing. We want to know exactly what senses the animals use to find their way, how they know in which direction to go until they can see familiar landmarks. Unfortunately practically no scientific experiments have yet been made on this question.
Perhaps migrating birds are the greatest mystery of all. Swallows leave England in August and September, and they fly to Africa, where they stay during our winter. The swallows return to England in the late summer for the south. A lot has been found about the journeys of migrating birds by marking the birds with aluminum rings put on one leg. An address and a number is put on the ring.
Swallows from England go as far as South Africa and as many as fourteen birds, marked with rings in England, have been caught again in South Africa. From England to South Africa is a journey of 6,000 miles. And the birds not only return from Africa to England next spring, but often they come back to the nests in the very same house where they nested the year before.
17.The seven swallows were marked on some of their feathers because .
A.they would be taken away by plane
B.they would be free in London
C.Croydon was 400 miles away
D.they could easily be seen for the red colour
18.Which of the following is true? .
A.Seientists have found why the animals can see their nests.
B.No one knows why the swallows can fly back to their familiar landmarks.
C.It’s very simple that the birds use sense of direction.
D.Many experiments have been made on how birds can fly their way home
19.Swallows like to spend ”our winter” in .
A.England B.London C.Africa D.Germany
20.When do the birds return from South Africa to England every year?
A.summer B.spring C.winter D.Both A and B
Husband and wife by Arrangement
Some Japanese still get married by parents’ arrangement. Yoshio and Hiromi Tanaka, a young Japanese couple living in the United States, told the story of their arranged marriage. “We didn’t marry for love in the western sense. We got married in the traditional Japanese way. Our parents arranged our marriage through a matchmaker(媒人). In Japan we believe that marriage is something affecting the whole family rather than a matter concerning only the young couple. So we think it is very important to match people according to their social background, education and so on. When our parents thought it was time for us to get married, they went to a local matchmaker and asked her for some suggestions. We discuss the details and looked at the photos she sent, and then our parents asked her to arrange a marriage interview for the two of us.
A Japanese marriage interview is held in a public place, such as a hotel or a restaurant, and is attended by the boy and the girl, their parents and the matchmaker. Information about the couple and their families is exchanged over a cup of tea or a meal. Then the boy and the girl are left alone for a short time to get to know each other. When they returned home they have to tell the matchmaker whether they want to meet again or not.
Yoshio continued, “When our parents realized we were serious about each other, they started to make arrangements for our wedding. My family paid the marriage money to Hiromi’s. This is money to help pay for the wedding ceremony and for setting up the house afterwards. We also gave her family a beautiful ornament to put in the best room of their house, so everyone knew that Hiromi was going to marry.”
13.The Japanese think of the marriage of a young couple as .
A.a sign showing the love between them
B.an opportunity for their parents to show their love for their children
C.a private affair for the boy and the girl
D.an important matter having influence on the whole family
14.In arranging a marriage in Japan, the matchmaker plays all of the following roles except .
A.making arrangements for the wedding
B.providing the information the family need
C.arranging the marriage interview
D.attending the marriage interview
15.According to the passage, the best time to make arrangement for the wedding is .
A.when the young couple agree to meet again
B.when the young couple are sincere about their relation
C.when the parents think it is time for their children to get married.
D.when the parents are well-informed about each other’s family
16.According to the passage, what plays the most important role in the matching of young people in Japan? .
A.Their parents’ attitude B.Their family background
C.Their occupationD.Their love for each other
Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.
8. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. All international managers can learn culture.
B. Business diversity is not necessary.
C. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.
D. Most people do not know foreign culture well.
9. According to the author, the model of Pepsi .
A. is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around
B. is different from the model of McDonald’s
C. shows the reverse of globalization
D. has converged cultural differences
10. The two schools of thought .
A. both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures
B. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries
C. admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world
D. Both A and B
11. This article is supposed to be most useful for those .
A. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity
B. who have connections to more than one type of culture
C. who want to travel abroad
D. who want to run business on International Scale
12. According to Fortune, successful international companies .
A. earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas
B. all have the quality of patience
C. will follow the overseas local cultures
D. adopt the policy of internationalization