In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive(认知的) skills didn't get any smarter.
More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of I.Q test before and after the experiment.
Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net scored higher than those playing the games.
"If you're (playing these games) because they're fun, that's absolutely fine," said Adrian Owen, the study's lead author. "But if you're expecting (these games) to improve your I.Q., our data suggests this isn't the case," he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
One maker of brain games said the company's games have been proven to boost brain power.
"Their conclusion would be like saying, 'I cannot run a mile in under 4 minutes and therefore it is impossible to do so," Aldrich said in a statement.
"There is precious little evidence to suggest the skills used in these games transfer to the real world," said Art Kramer, who was not linked to the study and has no ties to any companies that make brain training games.
Instead of playing brain games, Kramer said people would be better off getting some exercise. He said physical activity can spark(激发) new connections between nerves and produce new brain cells. "Fitness changes the building blocks of the brain's structure," he said.. It can be inferred that the online brain games mentioned in the text are_____________.
| A．costly | B．unreliable | C．illegal | D．effective |
. Which of the following statements is true about the experiment in the second paragraph?
| A．The experiment lasted for a week. |
| B．Age didn’t affect the result of the research. |
| C．Every person played online brain games three times a day. |
| D．People who didn’t play online brain games did better in I.Q test |
. What can we learn from the text?
| A．Playing games which are fun can improve your I.Q. |
| B．There is a lot of evidence to suggest skills can transfer to the real world. |
| C．Do physical activity can boost your brain power. |
| D．Playing online games can spark new brain cells |
The underlined sentence suggests that ___________.
| A．The research was not linked to the study |
| B．Those playing the games can score higher in the test |
| C．playing the games can spark new connections between nerves |
| D．This isn’t the case that these games can improve your I.Q. |
There was a king who gave his daughter a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. So the king asked to search for it and put a reward for＄50,000 for anyone who found it.
One day, a clerk was walking home along a river when he saw something shinning in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it to get the ＄50,000 reward.
He put his hand in the river and tried to catch the necklace, but somehow missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again.
But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling sad. Just then, an old man walking by saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with him, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.
The old man could see this man was troubled. He again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.
The old man then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was hanging on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to take a reflection of the real necklace all this time. The clerk tried to get the diamond necklace to ________________.
| A．make the king happy. | B．keep it for himself. |
| C．get the big reward. | D．sell it at a high price. |
Before the old man asked the clerk what was the matter, the clerk .
| A．was searching in the water | B．was trying to find help |
| C．felt rather tired | D．was not feeling good |
Where did the clerk find the necklace at last?
| A．On the tree | B．On the bank | C．In the river | D．In the sand |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．A beautiful diamond necklace | B．A king’s promise |
| C．A lucky young clerk | D．Changing the way of thinking |
Pairs, Jan. 11--- An armored (武装) car robbery last night ended in a wild gunbattle that two men dead and a hostage (人质) seriously wounded.
The drama (刺激的事件) began when an armored car carrying the contents of safety（储备）boxes to a bank was struck by a large truck, police said.
The bank guards were helpless when the robbers jumped out of the truck and tied them. The robbers used heavy tools and explosives (爆炸品) to break the armored car.
A passing police car turned to look into the accident as the men were removing the contents of the armored car. Police said the three robbers fled on foot across a nearby highway.
Stopping a private car driven by a teenaged girl, the three escaped for central Pairs with the police car in hot pursuit（追捕）.
A plain clothes policeman saw the car as it drove through the street of Lat in Quarter. The policeman tried to stop the car, but the thieves started shooting at him, witness (目击者) said.
The girl hostage tried to slip away. Just as she was crawling (爬出) away from the car, she was hit by a bullet. Police said she was out of danger at Central Hospital.
The gunmen gave up the car and got into a shop, pouring fire on more than 50 policemen that surrounded the building. After a wild gunbattle, police broke into the room. They only found two of the gunmen, both seriously wounded. The third thief was believed to have escaped with over $1.3 million in cash and jewellery.The passage is about _____.
| A．a gunbattle between the policeman and the government soldiers. |
| B．a bank robbery in Paris. |
| C．a group of gunmen's robbery of armored car in the streets. |
| D．how a teenaged girl got seriously wounded. |
The robbers came and they _____.
| A．in a police car; stole the armed car. |
| B．in a truck; blasted (炸毁) the armored car. |
| C．in an armored truck; drove the money car away. |
| D．in an armored car; opened the armored car with heavy tools. |
The three robbers escaped on foot across a nearby highway because_____.
| A．a passing police car found them . |
| B．the explosives were too strong . |
| C．the contents of the armored car were too heavy . |
| D．the truck broke down . |
A plain clothes policeman is ______.
| A．not a policeman but a soldier . | B．not a policeman but a gunman . |
| C．a policeman but he doesn't wear a uniform . | D．a robber . |
After a wild gunbattle, ______.
| A．the robbers were shot dead. |
| B．the police got back what they wanted. |
| C．the police failed to get back what they wanted. |
| D．50 policemen were killed and the robbers were seriously wounded. |
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur, one of the world's great scientists, was born in 1822, and died in 1895.While still a young boy, Louis Pasteur made his decision to become a scientist. He spent much of his life time studying the diseases of cattle, chickens and other tame animals. His wife learned to help him with his work. Almost everyone knows that Pasteur is the man responsible for finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling (变质). Not many people know he was the first to imagine and to prove that air we breathe is full of germs (细菌). One of his greatest successes was finding a treatment for people and animals to prevent a disease called rabies (狂犬病). Louis Pasteur won many honors and could have got large amount of money. But Pasteur preferred to live simply. The real happiness of this unusual man came from his work. Louis Pasteur did so well in his life that the French government took up his work and created the Institute Pasteur in the year 1888.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Pasteur was a scientist and doctor as well. |
| B．Pasteur lived for less than seventy years. |
| C．Everybody knows that Pasteur succeeded in finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling. |
| D．Pasteur's wife was of some help to him in his work. |
From the passage, we know that Pasteur lived a simple life. This is because ________.
| A．he earned little money. |
| B．he cared much about money. |
| C．what he really enjoyed was a simple life. |
| D．of all mentioned above. |
Why were many honors given to Louis Pasteur?
| A．Because he was the greatest scientist in the world. |
| B．Because he spent much of his life time studying the diseases of people. |
| C．Because he lived simply. |
| D．Because he was a rare success as a scientist. |
Pasteur could have got large amount of money if he had___________.
| A．cared much about it. |
| B．made more discoveries. |
| C．lived a better life. |
| D．achieved more successes. |
To Louis Pasteur the real happiness in his life was to __________.
| A．study | B．work | C．get large amount of money | D．raise tame animals |
If you see someone drowning, speed is very important. Once you get him out of the water, if he isn't breathing, you have four minutes before his brain is completely destroyed. Support his neck, move his head back and press his chin upwards. This stops the tongue blocking the airway in the throat and is sometimes enough to get him breathing again. If that doesn't work, start mouth-to-mouth breathing. Press his nostrils (the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things) together with your fingers. Open your mouth and take a deep breath. Blow into his lungs until his chest rises, then remove your mouth and watch his chest fall. Repeat twelve times a minute. Keep doing until professional help arrives.
To bring a child back to life, keep your lips around his mouth and gently blow into his mouth. Give the first four breaths as quickly as possible to fill the blood with oxygen. If, in spite of your efforts, he starts turning a blue-grey colour, and you can feel no pulse, then pressing is the last chance of saving his life.
With arms straight, rock forwards, pressing down on the lower half of the breastbone. Don't be too hard or you may break a rib. Check how effective you are by seeing if his colour improves or his pulse becomes independent to your chest pressing. If this happens, stop the pressing. Otherwise continue until rescue arrives.If you want to save someone drowning, you __________.
| A．have to pull off his clothes first . |
| B．should try to get him out of water as quickly as possible. |
| C．should first make out who he is. |
| D．ought to throw a life coat to him first . |
Once a person stops breathing, it means ___________.
| A．you have no more than 4 minutes to bring him to life again . |
| B．his brain is completely damaged . |
| C．he has passed away . |
| D．there is no way to save his life . |
To press his chin upwards is a way to _____________.
| A．keep the tongue from blocking the airway in the throat . |
| B．prevent the tongue from stopping the airway in the throat . |
| C．wipe the tongue out of the throat . |
| D．see if he can possibly be saved . |
If the drowning boy has no pulse,_____________.
| A．press his chin upwards is enough to get him breathing . |
| B．blow air into his mouth is sure to save his life . |
| C．press his nostrils together with your fingers can work . |
| D．press is the last chance of saving his life . |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．Don’t stop pressing his chest, if the drowning man starts breathing again. |
| B．If you see someone drowning, you must give him mouth-to-mouth breathing. |
| C．If a man does not breathe for four minutes, his brain will be completely destroyed. |
| D．When pressing, you can do it as hard as you can. |
I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world’s most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat(栖息地), the North Atlantic Ocean.
After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone began to shout because we saw a humpback whale（座头鲸）. It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them.
While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them, She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales- 50 foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot finback whales(the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints.
They all have names,and on this trip we saw “Salt” and “Pepper”, two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming toghter all the time.
I took twenty-seven photos,but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance.This passage is mainly about _________________.
A an unforgettable experience in the forest
B an unforgettable trip to see some strange animals in the mountains
C a long trip on the ship
D an unforgettable trip to watch whalesEveryone on the ship began to shout because_____________.
A a whale came so close to the ship
B they saw a singing whale
C they saw a finback whale
D they could touch the whaleWhen they were watching the whales, __________________.
A some of them fed the whales
B they found several kinds of whales
C a guide told them something about the whales
D some of them took many photos and touched the whalesHow can we recognize a whale?
A By its tail B By its head
C By its neck D By its eyes