A research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behaviour when they are watched. Do you? A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.
Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour. Their report also referred to other researches showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans, and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realising it.
It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.
The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption “I Want You”. It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.The underlined word “coded” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to .
| A．hidden | B．programmed | C．forgotten | D．learned |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．It describes changed behaviour when observed. |
| B．It details ways to control people's behaviour. |
| C．It tells how to make people work harder. |
| D．It discusses different advertising methods. |
According to the text, which of the following statements is true?
| A．People pretend to behave better when they are watched. |
| B．Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone. |
| C．People donate more money when they feel they are watched. |
| D．Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster. |
Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a scientific journal. |
| C．In an advertising magazine. | D．In a science textbook. |
Have you ever listened to young children talking in the playground? They are always boasting. They say things like, “My Dad’s car is bigger than your Dad’s,” and “My Mom is smarter than yours.” They particularly like to boast about their families.
There were three little boys, Harry, Ted and Gavin, who were always boasting. Gavin was the worst. Everything about his family was always the best or the biggest or the most expensive.
Whatever the others said, he could always go on better. One day when they were walking to
school, Harry said, “My father had a bath twice a week,” Ted spoke next. “That’s nothing,” he said. “Having a bath twice a week is dirty. My father has a bath every day, sometimes twice a day.” Ted looked at Gavin. Now it was his turn. But what could he say? “This time,” Ted thought, “I’m going to win.” Gavin didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say that his father had a bath three times a day. That was silly. He walked on in silence. Ted smiled at Harry, and Harry smiled back. They were sure that for once they had beaten Gavin. They reached the school gates. Still Gavin said nothing. “We’ve won,” Ted said to Harry, but he spoke too soon. On the way home, Gavin said, “My Dad is so clean that he doesn’t have to bathe at all.”According to the passage, the meaning of the word “boast” is __________.
| A．to sing a nice song |
| B．to talk big |
| C．to go on better |
| D．to have a bath three times a day |
What did Harry boast about?
| A．The number of times his father had a bath every week. |
| B．The size of the bathroom in his home. |
| C．His father’s car. |
| D．His mother’s family. |
Who boasted the most?
| A．Ted. |
| B．Harry and Ted. |
| C．Harry and Gavin. |
| D．Gavin. |
What does “he spoke too soon” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．He spoke quickly. |
| B．He should have spoken earlier. |
| C．He was wrong. |
| D．He couldn’t be understood. |
Every country has its traditional festivals. The Chinese New Year is now known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of spring. Though there are some sayings about its origin, all agree that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese means “year”, was originally the name of a beast that started to eat people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One story goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would take in a great many people at one time. People were very afraid. One day, an old man came to their help and said he would stop all this. He said to Nian, “I hear that you are very strong, but can you eat up all the beasts on earth instead of people who are too weak to be your enemies?” “Yes,” Nian agreed with him and went to kill many of the beasts on earth. People were very happy because those beasts also did bad things to people and killed their farm animals from time to time.
After that, the old man, who was a god, rode on the beast Nian and left. Nian was gone, and other beasts also went into forests; people began to enjoy their happy life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper-cuts on their windows and doors at each year’s end to drive Nian away, because red is the color the beast felt most afraid of.
From then on, every year at the beginning of spring, people prepare to “Guo Nian”. The word “Guo Nian” means “go through the Nian safely”. Putting up red paper-cuts to drive Nian away and making dumplings for a better new year are still an every-year doing by the Chinese people. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, they just feel the color and the food make the New Year very enjoyable.How did the old man stop Nian from eating people?
| A．By putting red paper-cuts on windows. |
| B．By eating up beasts. |
| C．By talking to him. |
| D．By riding on him. |
Why did people put on red paper-cuts instead of those of any other color?
| A．Because Nian liked the color red. |
| B．Because the color red could kill Nian. |
| C．Because the old man like the color red. |
| D．Because Nian was afraid of the color red. |
The best title of this passage is “__________”.
| A．The Origin of the Chinese New Year |
| B．The Old Man and the Beast Nian |
| C．How to Go Through the Nian safely |
| D．What Nian Was Like |
Which of the following statement is TRUE?
| A．Nian can eat up all the beasts on earth at one time. |
| B．Nian is a tall beast that likes to eat farm animals. |
| C．Nian is afraid of red paper-cuts. |
| D．Nian doesn’t like to use his own mind. |
Everyday we talk about and use the Internet, but how many of us know the history of the Internet?
Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s. At that time, computers were large and expensive. Computer network didn’t work well. If one computer in the network broke down, then the whole network stopped. So a new network system had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the network was not working, information could be sent through another part. In this way computer network system would keep on working on the time.
At first the Internet was only used by the government, but in the early 1970s, universities, hospitals and banks were allowed to use it too. However, computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of the 1990s, computers became cheaper and easier to use. Scientists had also developed software that made “surfing” in the Internet more convenient.
Today it is easy to get on-line and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending e-mail is more and more popular among students.The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people’s life.The Internet has a history of more than _______ years.
| A．sixty | B．forty | C．fifty | D．twenty |
A new network system was set up to _________.
| A．make computers cheaper |
| B．make itself keep on working all the time |
| C．break down the whole network |
| D．make computers large and expensive |
__________ made “surfing” the Internet more convenient.
| A．Computers |
| B．Hardware |
| C．Software |
| D．Information |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．In the 1960s, computer network worked well. |
| B．In the early 1970s, the Internet was easy to use. |
| C．Today it’s still not easy to get on-line. |
| D．Sending e-mail is now more popular among students than before. |
Some children are natural-born bosses. They have a strong need to make decisions，manage their environment，and lead rather than follow. Stephen Jackson，a Year One student，“operates under the theory of what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine，” says his mother. “The other day I bought two new Star Wars light sabers (剑). Later，I saw Stephen with the two new ones while his brother was using the beat-up ones.”
“Examine the extended family，and you'll probably find a bossy grandparent，aunt，uncle or cousin in every generation. It's an inheritable trait，” says Russell Barkley，a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Other children who may not be particularly bossy can gradually gain dominance (支配地位) when they sense their parents are weak，hesitant，or in disagreement with each other.
Whether it's inborn nature or developed character at work，too much control in the hands of the young isn't healthy for children or the family. Fear is at the root of a lot of bossy behavior，says family psychologist John Taylor. Children，he says in his book From Defiance to Cooperation，“have secret feelings of weakness” and “a desire to feel safe.” It's the parents' role to provide that protection.
When a “boss child” doesn't learn limits at home，the stage is set for a host of troubles outside the family. The overly willful and unbending child may have trouble obeying teachers or coaches，for example，or trouble keeping friends. It can be pretty lonely as the top dog if no one likes your bossy ways.
“I see more and more parents giving up their power，” says Barkley，who has studied bossy behavior for more than 30 years. “They bend too far because they don't want to be as strict as their own parents were. But they also feel less confident about their parenting skills. Their kids，in turn，feel more anxious.”Bossy children like Stephen Jackson_________.
| A．make good decisions | B．show self-centeredness |
| C．lack care from others | D．have little sense of fear |
The underlined phrase “inheritable trait” in Paragraph 2 means ___________.
| A．inborn nature | B．developed character |
| C．accepted theory | D．particular environment |
The study on bossy behavior implies that parents_________.
| A．should give more power to their children |
| B．should be strict with their children |
| C．should not be so anxious about their children |
| D．should not set limits for their children |
What is the passage mainly about？
| A．How bossy behavior can be controlled. |
| B．How we can get along with bossy children. |
| C．What leads to children's bossy behavior. |
| D．What effect bossy behavior brings about. |
Lee Humberg, district manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is the man in charge of figuring out how to remove the flocks (群) of 15,000 to 20,000 Canada geese(大雁) that could strike planes flying in and out of the New York area. The Port Authority, the agency that manages airport in New York and New Jersey, estimates that there have been as many as 315 bird strikes annually in the past 30 years.
Bird strikes have been a hot topic since a US Airways jet suffered a “double strike” and made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in January 2009. All 155 passengers were rescued safely and the flight was called “Miracle on the Hudson”. The plane finally ended up at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. The next major bird strike may not have such a happy ending.
To thin the flocks, Humberg and his team have tracked down goose nests and killed eggs with corn oil. They’ve also terrified the birds with dogs, remote-controlled boats and kites that look like eagles. But the only method that effectively decreases the goose population is the one that angers animal lovers the most: gassing hundreds at a time.
“If all you are doing is goose harassment (骚扰) every day, it’s very frustrating, because you are just playing Ping-Pong with the birds,” Humberg told New York magazine. “It’s basically an arms race to come up with the tools to deal with them.”
Now New York City plans to send the geese captured to Pennsylvania to be cooked and distributed at food banks as meals for the poor. That might just be a fate better than flying into a 747 engine.What can we learn form Humberg?
| A．He does research on geese’s living conditions. |
| B．He makes efforts to protect wild birds. |
| C．He deals with the danger of birds at airports. |
| D．He tries to find newer and safer airlines. |
Why was the flight called “Miracle on the Hudson”?
| A．It suffered a “double strike”. | B．It arrived at a plane museum. |
| C．It only caused a few deaths. | D．It succeeded in landing on a river. |
By saying “you are just playing Ping-Pong with the birds”, Humberg means ______.
| A．It’s interesting to fight with the birds |
| B．It’s a skill-needed race against the birds |
| C．you can’t defeat the bird in the end |
| D．you should live with birds peacefully |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．Canada geese can fly as high as planes |
| B．New York airlines are in poor management |
| C．bird strikes happen once a week on average |
| D．the poor may also benefit from Humberg’s work |