Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!
Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.
"We’ve learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."
British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.
But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It’s hard to get a clear result.
Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!
How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.
The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best colour change. They decided it was the litmus paper!
"It’s our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder." Whom did the three kids want to challenge?
| A．Their chemistry teacher. | B．Their headmaster. |
| C．Robert Boyle | D．Thomas Edison |
From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.
| A．plant | B．animal | C．paper | D．liquid |
What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?
| A．red cabbage | B．litmus paper |
| C．any plant | D．any flower |
The story mainly tells us ____.
| A．how to make litmus paper | B．about the three kids’ spirit |
| C．scientists were wrong | D．the kids are heroes |
Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.
A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（职业的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回报）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.
I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.
| A．hard | B．colourful | C．easy | D．rich |
From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.
| A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables |
| B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first |
| C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again |
| D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory |
Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?
| A．Because she thought they never said anything good. |
| B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money. |
| C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork. |
| D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories. |
In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.
| A．silent | B．modest | C．talkative | D．trouble-making |
Which is the best title（标题）of the passage?
| A．My Unlucky Childhood | B．A Storyteller’s Childhood |
| C．My Kind Grandmother | D．More talking leads to success |
The label（标签）, Made in China, is one that is becoming increasing common in shopping centers all over the world.
In the United States, shoppers at Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer（零售商）, have a wide selection of products mostly produced in China. The large amount of Chinese imports have created a large selection of goods in other countries as people begin to buy more and more products made in China. These goods are even widely available in other Asian nations, where Chinese-made goods are quite popular. Chinese brand names are also becoming more well-known outside China.
When Chinese Americans visit family and friends in their homeland, gifts from the U.S. are a must. But TVs and fashionable clothes aren't rare any more, and anything 'Made in China' shouldn’t be considered in any case.
"When I decide to visit my family members in China, I will have a big headache. What should I buy for them? They may not all speak English, but everyone in China knows those three words," a Chinese American said. "When they see the label 'Made in China,' they will think, 'Why do you send me this?' "
The development of China has surprised the world with its growth. As a result, the other countries are beginning to try to reduce Chinese goods with the use of taxes（税）and import restrictions. However, the development on the Chinese economy still affects the world in many ways.Around the world, the products made in China are ________ in the shopping malls.
| A．unwelcome | B．expensive | C．popular | D．rare |
What is the Chinese meaning of the underlined word “brand” in the second paragraph?
| A．品牌 | B．明星 | C．生产地 | D．树枝 |
Why do Chinese Americans usually have a headache if they come back to China?
| A．Because their Chinese friends can not speak English. |
| B．Because their friends will be unhappy if the gifts are made in China. |
| C．Because they should give their friends rare gifts. |
| D．Because they should give their friends fashionable gifts. |
How do other countries try to reduce the Chinese goods in their own countries?
| A．By developing the qualities of their own products. |
| B．By telling their shoppers not to buy Chinese goods. |
| C．By importing more Chinese goods. |
| D．By using taxes and import restrictions. |
From the passage, we can know that________.
| A．products made in China are more and more popular all over the world |
| B．TVs and fashionable clothes are ideal gifts for Chinese people |
| C．everyone in China can speak English |
| D．the other governments don’t welcome any Chinese goods |
List of the 85th Oscar Award winners announced Sunday in Los Angeles, America:
| Awards |
Winners |
Films |
| Best Actor |
Daniel Day-Lewis |
Lincoln |
| Best Actress |
Jennifer Lawrence |
Silver Linings Playbook |
| Best Supporting Actor |
Christoph Waltz |
Django Unchained |
| Best Supporting Actress |
Anne Hathaway |
Les Miserables |
| Best Directing |
Ang Lee |
Life of Pi |
Where was the 85th Oscar Awards presentation held?
| A．In Nanjing | B．In New York | C．In Los Angeles | D．In London |
Which film was directed by the winner of this year’s Best Director?
| A．Lincoln | B．Life of Pi | C．Ang Lee | D．Les Miserables |
阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。
The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen-based smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4, and was announced on October 4, 2011. Siri on iPhone 4S is like a person assistant. It lets you use your voice to do things on the iPhone. You can just talk to Siri as you talk to a person. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back.
Say something like “Tell my wife I’m running late.” “Remind me to call the doctor.”“Any fast food restaurants around here?” Siri does what you say, finds the information you need, then answers you. It’s like you’re having a conversation with your assistant.
Siri not only understands what you say, but it’s also smart enough to know what you mean. So when you ask, “Any fast food restaurants around here?” Siri will reply, “I found a number of restaurants near you.” Then you can say, “Hmm. How about French fries?” Siri remembers that you just asked about restaurants for something to eat, so it will look for KFC restaurants in the neighborhood. And Siri is active, so it will question you until it finds what you’re looking for.
When you want to do something, just ask Siri to help you do it. Siri uses almost all the built-in apps on iPhone 4S. It writes texts and sends email messages. It searches the web for anything you need to know. It plays the songs you want to hear. It gives you directions and shows you around. It makes calls, plans meetings, helps you remember and wakes you up. In fact, ask Siri what it can do — it even speaks for itself.
Siri is easy to use and does so much. You’ll keep finding more and more ways to use it.When was iPhone 4S announced?
What is Siri on iPhone 4S like?
How can you use Siri to do things on the iPhone?
Why will Siri look for KFC restaurants in the neighborhood?
What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?
Tony Buzan’s grades were going down at university. Disappointed with his low marks, he went to the library to find a book on how to use his brain. He was directed to the medical section. Confused, he said to the librarian, “I don’t want to take my brain out, I just want to learn how to use it.” Her reply was simple: “There’s no book on that.”
“I thought to myself,” says Buzan, “if I buy a little radio, I get an instruction manual (说明书). If I buy a microwave, I get an instruction manual. But for the most important machine in the world, no instruction manual?”
Fifty years later, Buzan has become the world’s leading speaker on the brain and learning. In the late 1960s, he invented the mind map, a visual representation of thought processes.
This kind of thinking has become a popular tool for planning, organizing, problem solving, and communicating across the world. He has since authored and co-authored over 100 books that have appeared in more than 30 languages.
“I think in most cases, people use less than 1 percent of their brains,” he says.
But how do you expand this 1 percent? How do you become the best student you can be?
According to Buzan, the answer is simple. You take a section of whatever it is that you are trying to learn, he says, and you read it for its essence (精髓、要素). Then you make a mind map of all the important details. For a truly effective mind map, you start with a colored image in the center of your page. Draw the first image that comes to mind on the topic you are mind mapping. Branch off from your central image and create one of your main ideas. From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-branches you can draw even more branches. He emphasizes that you should use plenty of images and colors as these help with memory recall and encourage creativity.
By using this visual format (形式), according to Buzan, your mind will begin to make associations that will help you remember more information for longer periods of time.
Buzan believes that traditional note-taking methods, such as lists and summaries, do not stimulate the brain’s recall capacity or ability in the same way. Because of this, students will often find themselves locked away in their rooms for hours, trying hard to memorize separate details. Buzan believes that for a more effective and lasting way of studying, you must first understand how your brain works.
“Everyone is born smart,” he says. “You just have to learn how to learn.”What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?
| A．To show that Tony Buzan was worried about his study. |
| B．To invite us to think about the importance of manuals. |
| C．To prove that the mind map is a useful tool for the brain. |
| D．To show why Tony Buzan studies the brain and learning. |
What does the word “stimulate” mean in the passage?
| A．Excite. | B．Improve. | C．Encourage. | D．Affect. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．If we learn the mind map, we will become the best student. |
| B．The mind map will help your brain connect separate details. |
| C．The mind map will be more effective if we put more details in it. |
| D．We will solve the problem if we make connections between ideas. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．How to make the mind map? |
| B．Is the mind map widely used? |
| C．Can your memory be mapped? |
| D．Is the mind map helpful in thinking? |