Down-to-earth means being honest, open, and easy to deal with. It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth. A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to. He or she accepts others as equals. A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society, of course, but they do not let their importance go to their heads, and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important. Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have his nose in the air. There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth.
Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth. The expression is both feet on the ground. Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality. He has what is called common sense. He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real. The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds. A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world. Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality; sharp words from the teacher, for example, can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground.
The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground. But the opposite is not always true. Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth. When we have both our feet firmly on the ground, we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others, and our lives are like the ground below us, solid and strong.If a person has his nose in the air, he ____.
| A．is down to the earth |
| B．is easy to deal with |
| C．always thinks he is more important than others |
| D．is confident |
If a person has both feet on the ground, he ____.
| A．is in touch with reality, and doesn’t have any dreams |
| B．has some dreams but he is realistic |
| C．is honest, open and easy to deal with |
| D．is honest, open but hard to deal with |
The underlined sentence “But the opposite is not always true.” most probably means that ______.
| A．the person who has his nose in the air is not true |
| B．a man with his head in the clouds is often not intelligent |
| C．the opposite direction is always wrong |
| D．a person who has both feet on the ground may not be down-to-earth |
Scientists have found what look like caves on Mars(火星), and say they could be protecting life from the planet’s terrible environment.
The first caves discovered beyond the Earth appear as seven mysterious black dots on the pictures sent back by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Each as large as a football field, they may be openings into natural caves below the Martian surface.
“If there is life on Mars, there is a good chance you’d find it in caves,” said Jut Wynne,one of the researchers who noticed the features while working on a US Geological Survey Mars Cave Detection Program.
Jonathan Clarke, a geologist with the Mars Society of Australia, yesterday described the discovery as exciting.
One photo taken at night by an infrared imager(红外线成像器) showed one hole to be unusually warm, suggesting hot air trapped during the day is flowing out.
“I said:‘Wow, that’s a cave’” Dr. Clarke said excitedly. “People have been looking for these for a long time; now we have found them.”
He agreed such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life escaping from the bitterly cold, radiation-soaked(充满辐射的), dry surface.
“Tiny drops of water could collect inside,” he said. “If there are gases coming out, they could provide energy for a whole range of bacteria. A cave is also a protection from radiation; the surface of Mars is exposed to high levels of space radiation.”
The caves probably formed when tube-shaped lave flows(管状岩浆流) spread across the planet long ago. The outside of the tubes cooled, forming solid walls, while something hotter inside allowed the remaining have to flow out, forming caves.
64.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. How the caves were formed on Mars.
B. How scientists found these caves on Mars.
C. Caves on Mars may be full of hot air or a sign of life.
D. Scientists have completely recognized the surface of Mars.
65.We can learn from the passage that .
A. water has already been found on Mars
B. the scientists found all the caves at night
C.it is certain that there is life in these caves
D.the surface of Mars is bitterly cold, radiation-soaked and dry
66.According to the passage, Dr. Clarke was so excited because .
A.such caves could provide energy for life
B.they had finally found the caves on Mars
C.such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life
D.scientists had long been looking for these caves
67.Necessary conditions for life on Mars mentioned in the passage may include .
A.lava and energy B.water and radiation from space
C.gases and lava D.water and protection from radiation
Thinking
| Some scientists claim that we humans are the only living things that are conscious(有意识的)-we alone are aware that we are thinking. No one knows how consciousness works –it is one of science’s last great mysteries. All your thoughts take place in the cerebrum(大脑皮质),which is at the top of your brain, and different kinds of thought are linked to different areas, areas, called association areas. Each half of the cerebrum has four rounded ends called lobes(脑叶)-two at the front (frontal and temporal lobes)and two at the back (occipital and parietal lobes). The frontal lobe is linked to your personality and it is where you have your bright ideas. The temporal lobe is where you hear and understand what people say to you. The occipital lobe is where you work out what your eyes see. The parietal lobe is where you record touch, heat and cold, and pain. The left half of the brain controls the right side of the body. The right half controls the left side. One half of the brain is always dominant (in charge).Usually, the left brain is dominant, which is why 90% of people are right-handed. |
68.Which part of your cerebrum is most active when you are making a telephone call?
A. The frontal lobe. B. The temporal lobe. C. The occipital lobe. D. The parietal lobe.
69.Which of the following statements is true?
A. One’s personality has something to do with the frontal lobe.
B. Bright ideas come from the parietal lobe.
C. The occipital and temperal lobes are at the back of the cerebrum.
D. The occipital lobe is in charge of sound.
70.From the passage, we know the reason why around 10% of people are left-handed is that _______.
A.their frontal lobe is usually dominant B.their temporal lobe is usually dominant
C.their right brain is usually dominant D.their left brain is usually dominant
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
56. According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
A. diseases and aging B. accidents and war
C. accidents and agingD. heart diseases and war
57.In the author's opinon, today's most important advance in technology lies in _____.
A. medicineB. the internetC. brain cellsD. human organs
58. Humans may live longer in the future because ______.
A. heart disease will be far away from us B. human brains can decide the final death
C. the basic materials of cells will last forever D. human organs can be repaired by new medicine
59. We can learn from the passage that _____.
A. human life will not last more than 120 years in the future
B. human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now
C. much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life
D. we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells.
When we think of leadership, we often think of strength and power. But what are these really, and how do they operate?
Leadership today is not about forcing others to do things, If this is even possible. it is short-term , and tends to backfire. If you order someone to do something against their will. they may do it because they feel they must , but the anger they feel will do more harm in the long-term , They will also experience fear.
Fear causes the thinking brain to shut down, making the person unable to function at his or her best . If they associate you with this emotion of fear. They will become less functional around you , and you will have succeeded in not only shooting yourself in the foot . but possibly making a very good employee or partner unable to perform effectively . Fear has no place in leadership.
The way we influence people in a lasting way is by our own character, and our understanding and use of emotion. We can order someone to do something , which may be part of the work day; or we can employ them at the emotional level , so they became fully devoted to the projects and provide some of their own motivation(积极性)。Today’s work place is all about relationships as a human being as well as a worker. Everyone produces just a bit more for someone they like. Leaders understand the way things work. They know the pay check is not the single most motivating factor (因素) in the work life of most people.
The true strength of leadership is an inner strength that comes from the confidence of emotional intelligence---knowing your own emotions, and how to handle them, and those of others . Developing your emotional intelligence is the single best thing you can do if you want to develop your relationships with people around you, which is the key to the leadership skills .
52. An employee may have a feeling of fear in the work place when___.
A. he is forced to do things B. be cannot work at his best
C. . he feels his brain shut down D. he thinks of his work as too heavy
53. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. People tend to associate leadership with fear
B. Working conditions affect people’s physical health
C. Good relationship is the key to business success
D. Smart people are more functional in the work place.
54. To positively influence employees a leader should first of all __
A. provide better suggestions B. develop his own personality
C. five his employees a pay raise D. hide his own emotion of fear
55.Good leadership is mainly seen in a leader’s ability to___
A . provide a variety of project for employees B. help raise employee’s living standards
C. give employees specific instructions D. deal wisely with employees’ emotions
In meditation(冥想)，people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath . As they breathe in and out , they attend to their feelings . As thoughts go through their minds. they let them go. Breathe . Let go . Breathe . Let go
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates(分配) attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli( 刺激), like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice. everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain, It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment , 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day . A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period . Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers , their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number . Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number . as if letting it go , which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number , This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision , who meditated for three months as part of the study . ”I am a much better listener, ” he said. “ I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying. ”
48. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to
A. feelingsB. minds C. peopleD. thoughts
49. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they
A. are given less pressure B. allocate their attention better
C. have more stimuli for life D. practice them more frequently
50. In the experiment, volunteers doing meditation for longer hours
A. were more likely to catch both of the members
B. were used to memorizing numbers in groups
C. usually ignored the first number observed
D. paid more attention to numbers than to letters
51. The study proves that
A. meditation improves one’s health B. brain activity can be recorded
C. human attention can be trained D. mediators have a good sense of hearing