“Most experiences of absent-mindedness ,forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room , are caused by a simple lack of attention, ” says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded（编码） it deeply.”
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impression on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create troublesome situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your cupboard. “
Your memory itself isn’t failing you, ” says Schacter, “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.” http://wx.jtyjy.com/
Lack of interest can also lead to absent -mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago, ” says Zelinski, “ may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.”Women have slightly better m
emories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that.
“Visual cues（ 视觉提示 ）can help prevent absent--mindedness, ”says Schacter, “But be sure the cue is clear and available. ”If you want to remember to take a medicine with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine box and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common experience of absent - mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time, ”says Zelinski. “The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.”The writer of the passage thinks that encoding properly is very important because ________.
| A．it enables us to recall something from our memory |
| B．it slows down the process of losing our memory |
| C．it helps us understand our memory system better |
| D．it helps us to get back to where we were |
One possible reason why women have a little better memories than men is that________.
| A．they rely more on the environment |
| B．they have a wider range of interests |
| C．they have an unusual power of focusing their attention |
| D．they are more interested in what’s happening around them |
Why can a note in the pocket hardly serve as a reminder? ________.
| A．It will easily get lost |
| B．It is out of your sight |
| C．It’s not clear enough for you to read |
| D．It might get mixed up with other things |
From the last paragraph we can learn that________.
| A．repetition might help improve our memory |
| B．memory depends to a certain extent on the environment |
| C．we’d better return to where we were if we forget things |
| D．we should think about something else while doing one thing |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the memory system of persons |
| B．a way of encoding and recalling |
| C．the causes of absent-mindedness |
| D．the impression of the environment on memory |
Munish Bansal has amassed(积累)8,500 digital images of daughter Suman, 12, and her brother Jay, 10, since the day they were born. He has enough pictures to fill 600 albums and shows them on a website named “delightful kids”.
Mr. Bansal, 36, an accountant from Gillingham, Kent: “It started when I took a picture of Suman on the day when she was born. I did the same the following day, and the day after, and the day after that. Before I knew it, she had turned one and I had 365 images. It seemed a shame to stop, so I kept going - and did the same when Jay came along.” Mr. Bansal, who lives with housewife Rita, 39, began the family album on the day Suman was born in 1996. With a digital camera, he takes the picture usually before school or during dinner.
The photographs capture her life from a baby and toddler, through to early school days and into her teens. They include important landmarks like walking, the day she spoke, her first words and the beginning of school. He did the same with her younger brother Jay who was born two years later.
Mr. Bansal admits both Suman and Jay are “quite em
barrassed” about the website - and their father. Suman, who turns 13 tomorrow, said: “It's interesting because when I look at the baby photos I don't recognize myself - but I'm not planning on letting Dad do this for ever.” Mr. Bansal has said he will continue until they are old enough to leave home. “As they get older, Sunam and Jay have become quite embarrassed about what I'm doing,” he said. “But I hope that one day both of them will appreciate what I’ve done, and look back on their childhoods with happy memories.”
1. People can see their pictures by ______.
A. looking at the 600 albums B. visiting a website named “delightful kids”
C. collecting all the 8,500 digital images D. using all their digital camera
2. When Mr. Bansal started to take the picture, he was ______.
A. 24 years old B. 26 years old. C. 28 years old D. 30 years old
3. How do Suman and Jay think of what their father has done?
A. They feel very pleased with what their father has done
B. They think highly of what their father has done
C. They feel uncomfortable with what their father has done
D. They are surprised at what their father has done
4. From the passage we can infer that ______.
A. Mr. Bansal is sorry for taking so many pictures.
B. Mr. Bansal will stop taking photos next year
C. Mr. Bansal wants his children to leave home now
D. Mr. Bansal love his children very much
We live in a digital world now, and a student's technology needs have changed. For the early years, say when you are in primary school, you can get by with no technology at all. Even if you have a computer, it's a good idea to get children familiar with libraries. At this age, trips to the library are like family outings.
As you get closer to middle school, a computer with Internet access becomes more of a necessity. Teachers will often give assignments that require a student to use the Internet for research. After a computer, technology choices for students become more difficult to make – especially when it comes to cell-phones. Kids will beg their parents for a cell-phone, especially in middle school. For many parents, it's a safety issue: They want to know that their kids can reach them quickly if necessary. For teachers, cell phones can be used to record lessons when students are absent. But many teachers dislike cell-phones. Some kids send messages or have talks in the class. Sending messages also raises the problem of cheating on exams. More and more schools are now forbidding the use of cell-phones.
Many kids see iPods as necessary things to have. iPods are great for music, but do they do anything good for your children’s education? Maybe they do. That’s the opinion of Doug Johnson, an educator for 30 years. Johnson says that educators should accept all new forms of technology in the classroom, including iPods. “Some do more with their cell- phones than we can do with our laptops,” he jokes. “I don’t think we should be afraid. The truth is that it’s easier to change the way we teach than to change the technology habits of an entire generation.”
1. According to author, primary school children should___.
A. use the computer and the Internet regularly B. ask their parents to buy them cell-phones
C. buy iPods to listen to music D. go to libraries to read more books
2. Why do parents agree to buy their children cell-phones?
A. They want their children to be cool.
B. They think cell-phones be helpful to their study.
C. They want to keep in touch with their children.
D. They want their children to keep up to date.
3. The following are all reasons why many teachers dislike cell-phones EXCEPT ____.
A. cell-phones can be used to cheat on exams
B. schoolchildren will send messages during class
C. cell-phones can be used to record lessons
D. schoolchildren might talk on them during class
4. What does the underlined word “that” refers to?
A. iPods can be used to listen to music.
B. 
iPods can be helpful for children’s education.
C. iPods can be used to play games.
D. iPods are necessary for children’s lives.
5. We can infer from what Doug Johnson said that _____.
A. cell-phones are not useful to students
B. teachers should let students use cell-phones
C. it’s better for teachers to change their teaching methods
D. schoolchildren should follow the trends(潮流) of fashion
Claude and Louris are “giraffes”. So are police officers Hankins and Pearson. These men and women don’t look like giraffes; they look like you and me. Then, why do people call them “giraffes”?
A giraffe, they say, is an animal that sticks its neck out, can see places far away and has a large heart. It lives a quiet life and moves about in an easy and beautiful way. In the same way, a “giraffe” can be a person who likes to “stick his or her neck out” for other people, always watches for future happenings, has a warm heart for people around, and at the same time lives a quiet and beautiful life himself or herself.
“The Giraffe Project” is a 10-year-old group which finds and honors “giraffes” in the US and in the world. The group wants to teach people to do something to build a better world. The group members believe that a person shouldn’t draw his or her head back; instead, they tell people to “stick their neck out” and help others. Claude and Louris, Hankins and Pearson are only a few of the nearly 1,000 “giraffes” that the group found and honored.
Claude and Louris were getting old and they left their work with some money that they saved for future use. One day, however, they saw a homeless man looking for a place to keep warm and they decided that they should “stick their neck out” and give him some help. Today, they lived in Friends’ House, where they invite twelve homeless people to stay every night.
P
olice officers Hankins and Pearson work in a large city. They see crimes every day and their work is sometimes dangerous. They work hard for their money. However, these two men put their savings together and even borrowed money to 
start an educational center to teach young people in a poor part of the city. Hankins and Pearson are certainly “giraffes”.
1. Which of the following is true?
A. Some of the people around us look like giraffes.
B.
Giraffes are the most beautiful animal in the world.
C. “Giraffes” is a beautiful name for those who are ready to help other people.
D. A “giraffe” is someone who can stick his neck out and see the future.
2. “The Giraffe Project” is a group _____.
A. of police officers B. which appeared ten years ago
C. of ten-year-old children D. which t
akes care of children
3. People call Claude and Hankins “giraffes” because they _____.
A. do what is needed for a good world B. are not afraid of dangerous work
C. found a home for some homeless people D. made money only for other people
4. What does “The Giraffe Project” do?
A. It tells people how to live a quiet life.
B. It helps the homeless and teaches the young people.
C. It tries to find 1,000 warm-hearted people in the US.
D. It shows people what their duty is for a better world.
5. The underlined word “crime” in the last paragraph has the similar meaning to ____.
A. mistake B. happiness C. failure D. wrongdoing
Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.
Before the nineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs,
cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.
Scientific methods and labor
-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharp
ly reduced the need for farm labor.
As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a source which of
fers materials to industry. Today's successful farmer
s are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving.
1. We are told in the first paragraph about ____.
A. the history of farming B. the importance of farming
C. the development of farming D. the changes of farming
2. Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?
A. Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms.
B. Farmers used tractors to help them.
C. Farming was the main way of living for most people.
D. Farmers could supply materials to industry.
3. Crop production has increased greatly now thanks to all the following EXCEPT __.
A. scientific methods B. labor- saving machinery
C. farmers’ hard work D. chemical fertilizers
4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Traditional American farming. B. The increase in the number of crops in the US.
C. Modern farming methods. D. American farmers’ hard work.
5. The passage mainly talks about_____.
A. the advantages of American farming B. the changes in American farming
C. the situation of American farms D. how rapidly f
arming has developed
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40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。
The famous directo
r of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why not?” he asked.
“Well, sir,” one of the men answered, “we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”
“That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Her
e it is, sir,” they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.
The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.
1. One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _________.
A. to film a scene on the se
a B. to find an actor and an actress
C. to watch a beautiful sunset D. to meet the audience
2. Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?
A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset.
B. Because he was angry with his crew.
C. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset.
D. Because it was his secretary’s suggestion.
3. The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ______.
A. it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine
B. when they arrived at the beach it was already
in the evening
C. it was more moving than a sunrise
D. the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset
4 After the “sunset” began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands ______.
A. because he was moved to tears
B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards
C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined
D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine
5. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice.
B. If you want to see a sunrise, the east coat is the place to go.
C. The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day.
D. The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”.