For some time past it has been widely accepted that babies----and other creatures----learn to do things because certain acts lead to “rewards”; and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early stages, had to be directly related to such basic physiological (生理的) “drive” as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.
It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except the successful outcome.
Paousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to “reward” the babies and so teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other. Then he noticed that a baby who had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children’s response in situation where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement “switched on a display of lights---- and indeed that they were able to learn quite complicated turns to bring about this result, for instance, two left or two right, or even to make as many as three turns to one side.
Papousek’s light display was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would turn back to watch the lights closely although they would “smile and bubble” when the display came on. Papousek concluded that it was not primarily the sight of lights which pleased them, it was the success that they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and that there exists a fundamental human urge to make sense of the world and bring it under intentional control.
47.According to the author, babies learn to do things which ____.
A. are directly related to pleasure B. will meet their physical needs
C. will bring them a feeling of success D. will satisfy their curiosity
48.Papousek noticed in the studies that a baby ____.
A. would make learned response when it saw the milk
B. would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink
C. would continue the simple movements without being given milk
D. would turn its head to right or life when it had enough to drink
49.In Papousek’s experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to ____.
A. have the lights turned on B. be rewarded with milk
C. please their parents D. be praised
50.According to Papousek, the pleasure babies get in achieving is a reflection of ____.
A. a basic human desire to understand and control the world
B. the satisfaction of certain physiological needs
C. their strong desire to solve complex problem
D. a fundamental human urge to display their learned skills
Remember those big, colorful books with large pictures of balls or apples when you were a little kid? Those have proven to be helpful, according to a number of studies. Between 1 and 5 years old, introducing books to Children can help greatly because this is usually the age when intellectual (智力的) capabilities form.
At age 1 to 5, a child can decide whether he wants to learn or wants to be a good learner. The road to learning starts here. Their curiosity (好奇) and imagination are fed with the many pictures, sounds and colors in the books.
Children normally began school at 5 years old. But today, they go to school when they are as young as one and a half years old. This is because many parents have recognized that influencing the child's formative years (性格形成时期) is very important. The fight influence can make the child want to read in the future.
Parents should play a part in encouraging children to read. Even just reading them bedtime stories can help children feel the joy and amazement connected to reading. This can help them become better readers and better learners as they grow older.
If children are interested in reading books rather than watching television, they can improve many skills besides reading and learning. Books can act as stepping stones to intelligence. However, parents must be very careful not to overpower their children. If they force children to read books that are too hard to understand, they might think reading is boring and lose interest in it.. This passage mainly ______.
A.advises kids to spend less time watching TV |
B.explains why reading is good for us |
C.tells us that reading is good for children |
D.suggests that parents spend more time with their kids |
.Why does introducing books to kids between 1 and 5 years old help them greatly?
A.Because this is a good way to keep them away from television. |
B.Because it makes them become interested in going to school. |
C.Because it helps them learn much faster when they are older. |
D.Because it is usually the age when intellectual capabilities form. |
.It is implied in the passage that _____.
A.the writer read a lot of books when he was a child |
B.parents should never force their children to do anything |
C.the formative years may begin at one and a half years old |
D.a child's formative years are earlier than before |
.In the writer’s opinion, _____.
A.children should read all kinds of books |
B.children should only read books with pictures |
C.books can help children become cleverer |
D.bedtime stories make children love their parents more |
Read the following time table and then answer the following questions.
Train Timetable.
Lv. (Leave) Boston Ar. (Arrive) Midway Ar. New York
5:10 AM EX. (Except) Sun. 7:00 AM 10:45 AM
7:10 AM Daily 9:00 AM 12:45 PM
9:10 AM Ex, Sat. & Sun. 11:00 AM 2:45 PM
10:00 Am Ex. Hol. (Holiday) 11:45 AM 2:45 PM
1:15 PM Daily 3:15 PM 5:45 PM
3:40 PM Ex. Hol. 5:40 PM 8:15 PM
5:20 PM Daily 7:20 PM 9:55 PM.What is the shortest time between Boston and New York by train?
A.5 hours 35 minutes | B.5 hours 5 minutes |
C.4 hours 30 minutes. | D.4 hours 25 minutes. |
.How many trains have to spend over five hours on the way from Boston to New York?
A.5. | B.3. | C.7. | D.2. |
.On Christmas Day, how many trains at least can you take from Boston to New York?
A.2. | B.4. | C.5. | D.3. |
To learn English well you must learn about yourself. You must discover what your own special needs are in English. You should pick out what makes English different from your own language and concentrate on(集中精力) those parts. And above all, you should pick out your own personal weaknesses in English, pick out your own special problems, find out what mistakes you most often make and make a list of them.
It will be best if, in your preparation, you can practise doing all sorts of work that you will be asked to do in examination. You should then make a careful note of any mistakes that you make more than once. Count up how many times you make for each mistake, and the mistake you make most often should be at the top of your list, the next most common in the second place, and so on.
For example, if your native language is Japanese, you may find the problem of articles comes at the top of your list. If you speak German, you may find using some of the conjunctions is your biggest problem. If your mother tongue is French, you find you are always having trouble with some of prepositions. And if Italian is your language, you may constantly forget to use a suitable pronoun when you should.
But these are only examples of mistakes typical of certain languages. They may or may not be your particular personal mistakes. As I say, these personal ones are the most important of all to discover..The most important thing to learn English well is to______.
A.find out the difference between your own language and English |
B.discover your own special needs in the language |
C.learn about yourself as much as possible |
D.pick out your own personal weaknesses in English |
.The writer’s advice to the readers is to______.
A.spend as much time on English as possible |
B.take examinations of various sorts |
C.keep a notebook with the important languages points in it |
D.find out their own problems in doing selected exercises |
.The first item on the list should be the mistake you make_______.
A.most often | B.many times | C.more than more | D.very often |
.To make a list of personal mistakes______.
A.is a must for any English learner | B.is a time-consuming job |
C.needs careful work | D.can help your study of prepositions |
Thanksgiving is an important festival in North America. We interviewed several students from the US and Canada. Here is what they have told us about their Thanksgiving experiences.
Josie from New York, USA
“In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year at the end of November. It is to remember the first group of people from Europe to live in America. When they first arrived, they found the environment strange. But they learned to survive after some native American friends showed them how to grow and find food. Thanksgiving is meant to be a traditional celebration.”
Todd from California, USA
“Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping. That means we have four weeks to buy Christmas presents for our families and friends. For me and my friends, the most important part of the festival is the big football game on TV. The match is watched by millions of people all over America. Thanksgiving is seen as an exciting day for football!”
Ian from Saskatoon, Canada
In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, many people go to church. Thanks is given for all the good things that happened to them during the year. I always give thanks for the nice big turkey I’m going to have at the family dinner! Like all festivals, Thanksgiving is about food!
Katie from Maritimes, Canada
On Thanksgiving Day, we have dinner with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It is always very busy. Sometimes we have two Thanksgiving dinners because we go to both our grandparents’ houses. The dinner is usually attended by more than twenty people at each house! My mother and my aunts do all the cooking but the washing-up is done by me and my cousins. And that’s not an easy job! But I don’t mind because Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to give thanks.People in the USA and Canada ____________.
A.all have the same opinion of Thanksgiving |
B.have different opinions of Thanksgiving |
C.feel that Thanksgiving is about food |
D.have no interest in Thanksgiving |
Which of the people interviewed feels that Thanksgiving is all about football?
A.Ian | B.Josie | C.Todd | D.Katie |
Where does the person who thinks that Thanksgiving is a traditional celebration come from?
A.New York | B.California | C.Saskatoon | D.Maritimes |
For what reasons do people give thanks at Thanksgiving?
A.All the good things that have happened |
B.Presents, a big turkey |
C.Grandparents, food |
D.Football, traditions |
When Albert Einstein was young, he was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty in learning to read.
When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. Albert was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction ---- the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers were difficult for Albert to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something must be hidden behind things.
Albert didn’t like school. The German schools of that time were not pleasant. Students couldn’t ask questions. Albert said he felt as if he were in prison..
One day Albert told his uncle Jacob how much he hated school, especially mathematics. His uncle told him to solve mathematical problems by pretending to be a policeman. “You are looking for someone,” he said, “but you don’t know who he is. Call him X. Find him by using your mathematical tools.”
Albert learned to love mathematics. He was studying the complex mathematics of calculus while all his friends were still studying simple mathematics. Instead of playing with his friends he thought about things such as “What would happen if people could travel at the speed of his light?”
Albert wanted to teach mathematics and physics. He graduated with honors, but it was a pity that he could not get a teaching job.According to Paragraph 2, we can learn that Albert Einstein ________.
A.was interested in the compass |
B.wanted to be a great scientist |
C.was not clever enough |
D.didn’t like thinking by himself |
Why did Albert Einstein hate school?
A.He couldn’t play with his friends there |
B.Students were not allowed to ask questions. |
C.The schools were like prisons at that time |
D.He had to learn mathematics that he didn’t like. |
What does the underlined word ‘complex’ probably mean?
A.Useful | B.Difficult | C.Boring | D.Interesting |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
A.Einstein became a mathematics teacher after graduation |
B.Einstein gradually loved mathematics with his uncle’s help. |
C.Einstein’s uncle was a policeman. |
D.Einstein liked playing with other children. |