As children face their final month of revision before the exam season starts, many parents are looking for the words to motivate their offspring．But could they be mistakenly praising the value of ability over effort, asks Matthew Syed．
Take a glance at these expressions of encouragement:
"You learned that so quickly, you're so smart!"
"Look at that drawing．Are you -the next Picasso or what?"
They appear as the kind of confidence-boosting statements that should be given to children or, indeed, anyone else．Such phrases are used in homes and classrooms every day, particularly with exams approaching．
Intelligence-based praise leads the receiver towards the fixed thought —it suggests to them that intelligence is of primary importance rather than the effort through which intelligence can be transformed．
Let's take a quick second look into the science of expertise, and ask a question．Where does excellence come from? For a long time, it was thought the answer to this depended, to a large degree, on genetic inheritance．Or, to put it another way, it is all about talent．
It turns out that this is mistaken．Dozens of studies have found that top performers—whether in maths, mi sic or whatever—learn no faster than those who reach lower levels of achievement—hour after hour, they improve at almost the same rates．
The difference is simply that high achievers practice for more hours．Further research has shown that when students seem to possess a particular gift, it is often because they have been given extra tuition at home by their parents．
This is not to deny that some kids start out better than others—it is merely to suggest that the starting point we have in life is not particularly relevant．
Why? Because, over time, with the right, kind of practice, we change so dramatically．It is not just the body that changes, but the brain．The question of talent versus effort would not matter terribly much if it as merely theoretical．But it is so much more than that．It influences the way we think, feel, and the way we engage with our world．What is the best title of this passage?
| A．The Words That Could Encourage Your Child |
| B．Intelligence Says All |
| C．High and Low Achievers |
| D．Start Early, Learn More |
Which statement is intelligence-based praise?
| A．"You're so brilliant - you passed that exam without really studying!" |
| B．"With more efforts, you can achieve more!" |
| C．" You combine study with entertainment so well!" |
| D．"You study so hard even when you are so good at it!" |
The writer thinks the answer to the question of talent versus effort is _____．
| A．simple | B．complicated | C．obvious | D．mysterious |
Why do some people have higher achievements?
| A．Because they are born with great talent. |
| B．Because they start better than others. |
| C．Because they spend more of their spare time practicing what they have learnt. |
| D．Because they improve themselves at almost the same rates. |
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题，第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节，阅读下面短文，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。
Colorful Drinking Customs in Scandinavia
The peoples of the Scandinavian countries share a lot in common for geographical reasons. But there are more of differences than similarities between them in all ways，including their drinking customs.
A superficial（表面上的）observer might think that no one in Norway drinks wine. Meals eaten in restaurants or at home are usually washed down with tea, coffee or milk. Occasionally however，pale or dark ale(麦牙酒)is drunk. It can be ordered only in restaurants, where it is served only with food.
Excellent quality beers are made in Jutland and consumption is high. After beer, brandy is the favorite drink. Aalborg schnapps made from corn and potatoes, is famous for its high alcoholic content. For the Danes, brandy is also an aperitif(开胃酒) and is often drunk before meals. For a foreigner, the practice of surrounding toasts here can be uncomfortable. If he accepts one toast then he will have to accept all others, and it is difficult to drink six or seven glasses of brandy unless one is used to it. Ladies are fortunately excluded from these rounds and they drink only a grape juice with almost no alcoholic content.
It is milk instead of liquor that is the principal(主要的) Finnish table drink. More milk is drunk by the Finnish people than in any other nation. In Finland the sale of alcohol is a state behavior and a check is kept on consumption by recording purchases on special card issued to all customers.
As there is a difference between Swedish cooking in the south and that in the north because of the difference in soil and climate, their drinking habits are also different. In the north alcoholic beverages(烈酒).
are considered a necessity because they keep out the cold. While in the south people have milder drinks. But generally speaking, too much drinking is rare in Sweden, partly because it is against the law.
Sale of spirits is controlled; the Swedes drink much coffee and tea. Many people still prefer the old-fashioned coffee served in large cups with cakes. Tea is so popular in Sweden that it has been called the Swedish national drink.
41. The passage mentions the following subjects EXCEPT ______.
A. drinking habits B. table manners
C. sales of spirits D. drinking time
42. According to the passage, which of the following is the Swedish national drink?
A. Tea. B. Brandy. C. Aperitif. D. Grape juice.
43. Which of the following people like milk more than other drinks?
A. The German people. B. The American people.
C. The Finish people. D. The French people.
44. It can be inferred that if a foreigner isn’t good at drinking brandy, he ______.
A. would like to invite ladies to have a party
B. is unwilling to have a surrounding toast
C. would like to accept others’ toasts
D. will often drink milk instead of brandy
When in 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States, there was no permanent capital in which to house the government. During the Revolutionary War several different cities had served as the national capital. In addition, members of congress could not agree as to where this permanent capital should be located. Some officials wanted it in the north, others wanted it in the south. Each of the states hoped that the capital might lie within its own state lines. At last it was decided that the capital should occupy a section by itself, separate from any of the states. The place chosen was situated on the Potomac River. The land belonged originally to the state of Maryland, but Maryland agreed to the national government. The section was named the Washington. Work was begun on the new capital in 1791. In the year 1899 Congress occupied the new capital building at the same time the White House was opened as the home of all future presidents.
58. Before the year 1800, the capital of America had been located in _______.
A. MarylandB. Washington C. New YorkD. several cities
59. Why was it decided that the capital should be separated from any of the states? Because ________.
A. the District of Columbia was on the borders of several states
B. the District of Columbia was in the center of America
C. Maryland insisted that the capital lie in its own state
D. Each of the states wanted the capital might lie within its own state
60. The capital was named after _______.
A. an explorer, who first found the place B. the place where it occupied
C. the first president of the United States of America
D. a famous general who fought in the war
Burn Calories in Your Sleep?
The weight-loss world is full of assertions（断言）, rarely proved, that some pill can help you “burn calories while you sleep.” But a recent Dutch study reports that it can be done – simply by eating more lean protein（无脂肪蛋白质）.
Researchers report for the first time that consuming nearly a third of daily calories as lean protein – for example, lean meats without the skin – speeds up a person’s metabolism（新陈代谢） during sleep and that higher protein intake increases the burning of calories and fat during the day. Plus, when the study’s participants, who were all women of healthy weight, ate more protein, they felt fuller, more satisfied and less hungry than when they consumed a diet with the amount of protein, about 10 percent of calories.
The findings suggest that adding lean protein to your daily food “enables you to reach the same level of satiety（过饱）that you are used to with about 80 percent of your normal energy intake,” notes Margriet Westerterp-Plantenga. “That means you can eat about 20 percent less and still have the same satiety.”
What gives protein its caloric edge? It’s more difficult for the body to metabolize protein than either fat or carbohydrates（糖类）. The body also doesn’t store protein as efficiently as it does carbohydrates or fat. So protein is more likely to be burned and that in turn requires more oxygen and helps you feel satisfied in the hours after eating.
But the latest findings don’t mean it’s time to dust off those high-protein diet books. The current study limited fat to about 30 percent of daily calories, and included 40 percent of calories as healthy carbohydrates, including fruit and vegetables. For example, lunch included bread, soy milk, fruit yogurt, tuna in water, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and salad dressing.
54. According the first paragraph, we know that ______.
A. there’re few studies on weight-loss in the world
B. many studies on weight-loss only cheat customers
C. only few studies are useful for weight-loss
D. there’re few studies about lean protein
55. According to the passage, lean protein can help burn calories while you sleep because ______.
A.it can slow down a person’s metabolism
B. it’s difficult for the body to metabolize
C.it will not make you feel full
D. it’s easy to be stored in the body
56. The underlined phrase “dust off” in the last paragraph means ______.
A. get rid of B. put away
C. get ready to rewrite D. get ready to reuse
57. The passage is mainly to tell readers ______.
A. there is a good diet for weight-losers
B. you can burn your calories in your sleep
C. high-protein diet books will be popular
D. choosing right food is of great use
Many Going to College Are Not Ready
Only about half of this year’s high school graduates have the reading skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly report from ACT, which produces one of the nation’s leading college admissions tests.
The report, based on scores of the 2005 high school graduates who took the exam, some 1.2 million students in all, also found that fewer than one in four met the college-readiness benchmarks （基准）in all four subjects tested: reading comprehension, English, math and science.
ACT sets its college-readiness benchmarks — including the reading comprehension benchmark, which is new this year—by correlating（联系）earlier students’ ACT scores with grades they actually received as college freshmen. Based on that data, the benchmarks indicate the skill level at which a student has a 70 percent likelihood（可能性）of earning a C or better, and a 50 percent chance of earning a B or better.
Among those who took the 2005 test, only 51 percent achieved the benchmark in reading, 26 percent in science, and 41 percent in math; the figure for English was 68 percent. Results from the new optional ACT writing test, which was not widely taken this year, were not included in the report.
About 40 percent of the nation’s 2005 high school graduates took the ACT, and the average overall score was unchanged from the year before. Minority students make up 27 percent of all ACT test takers. Besides, there are also other worrying trends in the ACT report as well, including a continuing decline in the percentage of students planning to major in engineering, computer science and education.
50. The report from ACT mainly tells readers the problem that ______.
A. few minority students graduates took ACT
B. many who intend to go to college are not ready
C. the college-readiness benchmarks is high this year
D. the tests for some subjects are too difficult
51. According to the benchmarks in 2005, about how many students will not earn C?
A. 30 percent. B. 70 percent. C. 50 percent. D. 26 percent.
52. Which of the following pictures can correctly show the numbers of the students who achieve the benchmark in different subjects?
A. 
B.
C.
D.
53. Which of the followings can be found in the report from ACT in 2005?
A. The report about the writing test is very objective.
B. More boy students are not good at science and math.
C. The percentage of students majoring science declined.
D. The average score of 2005 ACT participants changed greatly.
Tess still stood hesitating like a swimmer about to make his dive, hardly knowing whether to return or move forward, when a figure came out from the dark door of the tent. It was a tall young man, smoking.
He had an almost black face, though red and smooth. His moustache was black with curled points, though he could not be more than twenty three or—four. There was an unusual force in his face, and in his daring rolling eyes.
“Well, my beauty, what can I do for you?” said he, coming forward. And seeing that she was quite at a loss, “Never mind me. I am Mr. d’Urberville. Have you come to see me or my mother?”
This differed greatly from what Tess had expected. She had dreamed of an aged and nobled face. She tried to keep calm and answered— “I came to see your mother, sir.”
“I am afraid you cannot see her—she is ill in bed,” replied the representative of the house; for this was Mr. Alee, the only son of the noble family. “What is the business you wish to see her about?”
“It isn’t business—it is—I can hardly say what!”
“Pleasure?”
“Oh no. Why, sir, if I tell you, it will seem…”
Tess’s sense of a certain ridicule（嘲笑） was now so strong that, despite her general discomfort at being here, her rosy lips curved(弯曲) towards a smile, much to the attraction of the young man.
“It is so foolish”, she stammered(急急巴巴地说). “I fear I can’t tell you!”
“Never mind; I like foolish things. Try again, my dear,” said he kindly.
“Mother asked me to come,” Tess continued; “and, indeed, I was in the mind to do so myself. But I did not think it would be like this. I came, sir, to tell you that we are of the same family as you.”
“Ho! Poor relations?”
“Yes，but we have several proofs that we are close relations. So mother said we ought to make ourselves known to you, as we’ve lost our horse by a bad accident; we can hardly make a living.”
“Very kind of your mother, I’m sure.” Alec looked at Tess as he spoke, in a way that made her uneasy. “And so, my pretty girl, you’ve come on a friendly visit to us, as relations?”
“I suppose I have,” looking less confident and uncomfortable again.
“Well—there’s no harm in it. Where do you live? What are you?”
—-Tess of the d'Urbervilles By Thomas Hardy
57. How does Tess feel in the whole course of the meeting with Alec?
A. Excited and hopeful. B. Nervous and uncomfortable.
C. Surprised .D. Pleased
58. In the eyes of Tess, Alec is _______________.
A. forceful and daring B. unfriendly and talkative
C. a gentle and reliable man D. older than she had expected
59. Why does Tess pay the visit to the d'Urbervilles?
A. To see Alec himself. B. To see Alec’s mother.
C. To confirm that they are of the same family.
D. To make known their relationship and seek help.
60. Alec appears quite friendly to Tess mainly because __________.
A. Tess is his distant relation B. Tess looks polite to him
C. Tess is a pretty girl D. Tess looks nervous