Three years ago I listened to a lecture on cognition (认知) that changed the way I think about intelligence. There are two types of cognition. The first is normal cognition: the ability to regain knowledge from memory. The second type of cognition is metacognition: the ability to know whether or not you know.
Does this affect intelligence? In traditional education, intelligence is measured by cognitive ability. Some people can easily produce everything they know on a test. But others are awarded with poor grades and considered inferior. But does this inability make them any less intelligent? If the question came up on a task, they could refer to a book or a quick Google search. In reality they’re just as effective as the people that ace a test. They just can’t prove it as easily.
Metacognition is more important to success than cognition. A person with poor cognitive ability, but great metacognitive ability might do poorly in school, but when faced with a challenge, they understand their abilities and take the best course of action. For example, when faced with a question, a person with strong metacognitive
ability will deal with it like this. If he knows the answer, but can’t come up with it, he can always do a bit of research. If he knows for sure that he doesn’t know, then he can start educating himself. Because he’s aware of his ignorance, he doesn’t act with foolish confidence. These people might not seem intelligent at first glance, but because they know what they know, they make better decisions and learn the most important things.
However, people with great cognitive ability but poor metacognitive ability may be considered excellent at a young age for acing every test and getting great SAT scores. Unfortunately, they’ve been ruined by poor metacognition: they think they know everything but they really don’t. They are overconfident, fail to learn from mistakes, and don’t understand the slight differences of personal relationships, showing disregard for persons with lower cognitive ability. They may make the worst decisions.
The most important mental power is the ability to know what you don’t know. The recognition of a fault is the first step to improvement. Don’t try to hide a lack of knowledge. For intelligent people this is the toughest lesson to learn.People with great cognitive ability tend to _________.
| A.do well in tests | B.be considered inferior |
| C.be more effective than others | D.do research when faced with a task |
The underlined phrase “take the best course of action” probably means _________.
| A.starting educating himself | B.taking action during the course |
| C.making the right decision | D.coming up with many ideas |
People with poor metacognition may not succeed because they_________.
| A.lack basic moral values | B.have improper self-evaluation |
| C.fail to communicate with others | D.show little respect for others |
The author probably supports the idea that _________.
| A.intelligence is measured by cognitive ability |
| B.cognition is the most important mental power |
| C.the toughest lesson is to distinguish the two types of cognition |
| D.the awareness of one’s ignorance contributes to one’s improvement |
第三部分:阅读理解(共15小题,每题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Joanne was stuck in traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30.and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club.At last.the traffic was moving.She swung quickly racing to her house.As she opened the door,she nearly tripped over Sheba.
“Hey,Sheba.”she said,“I’ve got no time for you now,but I’ll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club.”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously,she could hardly breathe.Immediately,Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet(兽医).When she got there,that vet was just about to close for the day Seeing the state of Sheba,Dr.Sterne brought her quickly into his office.
“Listen,doctor,I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting can I leave her with you,and go and get changed?I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up,and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me.Is that OK?”
“Sure.”said the doctor.
Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes.As she was once more entering the hallway,the phone by the door began to ring.
“This is Dr.Sterne,”said an anxious vioce,“I want you to get out of that house immediately,”said the doctor’s voice.“I’m coming round fight away,and the police will be there any time now.Wait outside!”
At that moment,a police car screeched to a stop outside the house.Two policemen got out and
rain into the house.Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened.Then the doctor arrived.
“Where’s Sheba?Is she OK?”shouted Joanne.
“She’s fine,Joanne.I took out the thing which was choking her,and she’s OK now.”
Just then,the two policemen reappeared from the house,half-carrying a white-faced man,who could hardly walk.There was blood all over him.
“My God,”said Joanne,“how did he get in there?And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar.”said the doctor.“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’throat:it turned out to be there human fingers”
56.What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30?
A.To walk her dog B.To see her doctor
C.To attend a club meeting D.To play tennis with her friends
57.Joanne wanted to get back to her home again
A.to dress up for the meeting B.to phone the police station
C.to catch the badly hurt burglar D.to wait for her dog to be cured
58.From the passage,we can infer that
A.Sheba fought against the burglar
B.the police found the burglar had broken in
C.Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting
D.the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog
59.In the passage,the writer intends to tell us that the dog is
A.clever B.friendly C.frightening D.devoted
I find it pleasant to be alone the greater part of the time; to be in company, even with the best, is soon tiresome and wasteful, and I never found a companion so companionable as solitude (独处).
We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad than when we stay in the meeting-rooms, for solitude is not measured by the miles of space between a man and his fellows.
The farmer, who can work alone all day without feeling lonesome, but must do something with others to get pleasure at night, wonders how the student can sit alone at night; he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is actually at work in his field and cutting his wood as the farmer was in his.
Society is commonly too cheap:We meet at very short intervals (间隔) ,not having had time to get any new value for each other; we meet at meals three times a day and give each other a new taste of that unpleasant old cheese; we live thick and are in each other’s way, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.
We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable (可忍受的); certainly less frequency would be enough for all important and hearty communications between men.
It would be better if there were but one to live within a square mile, as where I live ,for as the value of a man is not in his skin, we need not touch him.
72.The writer uses the example of the farmer and the student to show that _____.
A.men need to do something for pleasure after their work.
B.men are not lonely when they are working.
C.solitude is necessary for a student.
D.people have different ideas of solitude.
73.When the writer says:“Society is commonly too cheap” he means that ______.
A.we meet not frequently enough so we don’t understand each other well.
B.we eat cheap food and live a simple life so we don’t feel very happy.
C.our lives are too regular for us to find any happiness in them.
D.people don’t have enough hearty communication to realize the value in others
74.The writer’s opinion on the value of a man is that _____.
A.it is made too low by the rules of etiquette and politeness.
B.it can be discovered through frequent physical touch.
C.it can be found in a man’s appearance.
D.it doesn’t lie in physical touch.
75.The writer almost believes that ______.
A.a student and a farmer have no idea of solitude.
B.the same life we live every day is the cause of man’s loneliness.
C.etiquette and politeness are rules that make frequent meetings tolerable.
D.less frequent meetings can make us more clear about the value of men.
Tears are nature's way of making us feel more comfortable. When our eyes is made uncomfortable by some small pieces of pollution, or when we are cutting onions, or when we are exhausted and “red –eyes” from over work and late hours, tears form in our eyes to clean and re-flesh them.
Tears are also a sign of strong emotion. We cry when we are sad and we cry when we are happy.
And tears seem to be uniquely(唯独)human. We know that animals also experience emotion—fear, pleasure, loneliness — but they do not shed (流) tears. From this, we can conclude that tears are closely related to the emotional and biological make up of the human species.
Biologically speaking, tears are actually drops of saline fluid, which is a little bit salty, produced by a gland(腺)in the body. Because salt is an important component, tears may actually constitute the most conclusive evidence that the human animal is the end product of a long evolutionary process that began in the sea.
And it is clear that, in addition to(除了) the emotional benefits(好处), the shedding of tears has a specific biological function as well. Through tears, we can eliminate from our body certain chemicals which build up in response to stress and create a chemical imbalance in the body. Crying actually makes us feel better by correcting that imbalance and making us feel good again. And thus the emotional and the biological functions of tears merge(合并)into one and make us even more "human" than we would otherwise be.
68.According to the passage, human beings may have originated(起源于)in________.
A.the sea B.the salt C.chemicals D.animals
69.Which of the following is NOT a function of tears?
A.Biological B.Emotional C.Political D.Chemical
70.According to the article, which of the following is unique to humans?
A.The feeling of loneliness. B.The state of feeling good.
C.The ability to shed tears D.The feeling of fear
71.The underlined word “eliminate” probably means_______.
A.add B.produce C.replace D.remove
Healthy Habits, Healthy Body
Feel tired lately? Has a doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong with you.
Then, consider this:you might be in a state of sub-health(亚健康).
Sub-health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline state between health and disease.
According to the investigation by the National Health Organization, over 45 percent of sub-healthy people are middle-aged or elderly.The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam-week.
Symptoms(征兆)include a lack of energy, depression(压抑),slow reactions, insomnia(失眠),agitation, and poor memory.Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.
The key to preventing and recovering from sub-health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.
As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar.They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements…vitamins and trace elements …vitamins and trace elements…that are important to the body.
Nutrition(营养)experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract(消化系统).They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding sub-health.
63.According to this passage, which of the following is right?
A.When you are in a state of sub-health, you should stay home and keep silent.
B.When you are in a state of sub-health, you should go to see a doctor and buy some medicine.
C.When you are in a state of sub-health, you should have yourself examined in foreign countries.
D.When you are in a state of sub-health, you should find out the reasons and relax yourself.
64.Middle-aged people may be easy to get sub-health because ___.
A.they have used up their energy
B.they have lost their living hopes
C.they have more pressure in life and work
D.they begin to get older
65.The key to preventing you from falling into a state of sub-health is that you should ___.
A.work hard B.sleep more
C.form good living habits D.take more medicine
66.As for food, experts suggested that ___.
A.we should never eat meat B.we should have variety of food
C.we should eat less than usual D.we should have meals without salt to sugar
67.The bold-faced word “alternate” in this passage is closest in meaning to ___.
A.arrange by turns B.cause to take place
C.keep up D.take up
The Young Can't Wait
By Severn Cullies Suzuki
When you are little, it's not hard to believe you can change the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the delegates at the Rio Earth Summit. “I am only a child,” I told them. “Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty(贫困) and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be. In school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not to be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the thing you tell us not to do? You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make your actions reflect(反省) your words.”
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur(刺激) action. Now, a decade(十年) from Rio, after I've sat through many more conferences, I'm not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual's voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I'm learning that as we have to make choices—education, career, lifestyle—life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren't taught how to pursue a happy, healthy or sustainable way of living. And we are learning that what we wanted for the future when we were 12 was idealistic and naive.
Today I'm no longer a child, but I'm worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change.
60.The purpose of what the writer said at the age of 12 was to _______.
A.end poverty and make school beautiful
B.find environmental answers and keep the words that they always told themselves
C.end poverty and solve the problems about environment
D.find a wonderful place and clean it up
61.What does the underlined word “ovation” in the second paragraph refer to _____.
A.a long period of laughing B.a warm welcome
C.an expression used for greeting D.a long period of clapping and applause
62.It becomes clear that the writer is possibly _________ now.
A.in his teens B.in his twenties C.in his thirties D.in his forties