Have you ever been in a meeting while someone was making a speech and realized suddenly that your mind was a million miles away? You probably felt sorry and made up your mind to pay attention and never have daydreaming again. Most of us from earlier school days have been told that daydreaming is a waste of time.
“ On the contrary,” says L.Giambra, an expert in psychology（心理学）, “ daydreaming is quite necessary. Without it, the mind couldn’t get done all the thinking it has to do during a normal day… .
You can’t possibly do all your thinking with a conscious（有意识的） mind. Instead, your unconscious mind is working out problems all the time. Daydreaming then may be one way that the unconscious states of minds have silent dialogues.”
Early experts in psychology paid no attention to the importance of daydreams or even considered them harmful. At one time daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illness. They did not have a better understanding of daydreams until the late 1980s. Eric Klinger, a professor of psychology, is the writer of the book Daydreaming. Klinger says, “we know now that daydreaming is one of the main ways that we organize our lives, learn from our experiences, and plan for our futures… Daydreams really are a window on the things we fear and the things we long for in life.”
Daydreams are usually very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams which may be hard to understand. It’s easier to gain a deep understanding of your life by paying close attention to your daydreams than by trying to examine your sleep dreams carefully. Daydreams help you recognize the difficult situations in your life and find out a possible way of handling them.
Daydreams cannot be predicted; they move off in unexpected directions which may be creative and full of useful ideas. For many famous artists and scientists, daydreams were and are a main source of creative energy.
So the next time you catch yourself daydreaming, don’t stop. Just pay attention to your dream. It may be more important than you think.In what way are daydreams different from sleep dreams?
| A．Daydreams help to develop an unconscious mind. |
| B．Daydreams are not so easy for us to control and direct. |
| C．Daydreams help us to handle more difficult situations |
| D．Daydreams are easier for us to understand. |
Professor Eric Klinger believes that _______.
| A．our fears and longings in life are shown in our daydreams |
| B．we may study our experiences just through our daydreams |
| C．daydreaming is one of the important ways that we recognize our lives |
| D．we should be able to tell our futures by having daydreams |
The writer of the article thinks that ______.
| A．daydreaming is more helpful than sleep dreams |
| B．many artists and scientists are famous because they have daydreams |
| C．professor Eric Klinger has a better idea than L. Giambra |
| D．daydreaming with an unconscious mind will do good to health |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Daydreaming was once regarded as a cause of mental illness. |
| B．Experts began to have a better understanding of daydreams in the late 1980s. |
| C．Scientists believe that we can know daydreams before having them. |
| D． Many well-known artists gained energy of creation from daydream |
This year the selfie earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 Word Of The Year．It has taken over our culture-and our smartphones．The rise of the selfie has become universal-between presidents，celebrities(名人)and citizens alike-and the trend is only continuing to grow.
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet＆American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet have posted original photos online．And of those hundreds of millions of photos， many are of selfie photos．
For example，currently there are nearly 62 million posted selfie
photos on Instagram，the social media tool that has significantly contributed to the personal photo’s popularity．That figure，which continues to rise every day, does not even begin to include the selfies shared on Facebook and Twitter.
What makes the selfie so attractive-and why do we feel it a must to take one? According to Dr．Pamela Rutledge，psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center，the desire to take，post and get“likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior of all humans．
“ I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go
to a party and people say‘Oh I love your dress，’” Rutledge told The Huffington Post.“Biological，social recognition is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that contributes to social activity．”
There is a way to adapt to the growing selfie culture．Whether you’re a selfie novice or an advanced poster，there are always things to be mindful of when you’re posting，Rutledge advises.
She offered two main principles to follow when it comes to posting on social media:
1．The Grandmother Rule
“Don't post anything online，whether text or visual，that you don't want grandmother or future
employer to see，” Rutledge said．“Selfies especially．”
2．The Elevator Rule
“You wouldn’t say something in an elevator that you or no one else wants to hear—the whole
world of social media is an elevator，” Rutledge said．“Be aware of the breadth of platform．It's easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people，but Instagram is public and people can come across things．”What's the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．The selfie is taking the lead． |
| B．Many people are fond of smartphones． |
| C．The selfie will take over everything． |
| D．The selfie is an important new word． |
According to the passage，people like“selfie”so much，because they___________.
| A．need to be acknowledged in social life |
| B．want to show off their new dresses |
| C．desire to share good things |
| D．mean to amuse the public |
The underlined word“novice”in Paragraph 6 probably means“___________”.
| A．publisher | B．greenhand | C．novelist | D．celebrity |
When it comes to posting on social media，Rutledge advises people to___________.
| A．share photos only on Instagram |
| B．talk about their photos in an elevator |
| C．be cautious in posting things online |
| D．follow rules set by their grandmothers |
The kindly“Chinese Fortune Grandpa”wearing Han Chineseclothing and holding a fortune bag debuted (亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas．The final imageof the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competitionagainst“Santa Claus”，according to a report by Guangming Daily．
Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights，Christmas songs，Christmas trees，and the images of“Santa Claus”in recent days．As a matter of fact，foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people，particularly the youth.“Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings，”said noted writer Feng Jicai．More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas．However，many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人)，and have never heard suona music．Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival，Tomb Sweeping Day，and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared．Under such circum-stances，even the“Chinese Fortune Grandpa”is unlikely to defeat“Santa Claus”．
However，it is not a bad thing to some extent．It constantly reminds people to restore the“true
face”of traditional festivals．China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day，Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays，which brings more paid leaves to the public，and helps to awake the public awareness of traditional festivals．
In modern society，festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largelydepends on their understandings and usages by people．Compared with foreign festivals，traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior (次于) in cultural meanings，but lack of fashion sought by modern people．If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals，and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important，the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance (继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off．The second paragraph implies that______________________.
| A．traditional festivals should co-exist with foreign festivals |
| B．all the Chinese festivals are disappearing in the near future |
| C．western festivals are constantly impacting on our festivals |
| D．the Chinese people have the public awareness of traditional festivals |
We can learn from the passage that______________.
| A．an image designed by the Chinese people will be displayed |
| B．many foreigners know nothing about Chinese festivals |
| C．the Chinese gift-giver was intended to symbolize traditional culture |
| D．the Chinese are beginning to exchange gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival |
Many Chinese youth dislike traditional festivals because they think______________.
| A．traditional festivals are out of fashion now |
| B．the historical culture is more difficult to understand |
| C．western festivals contain more cultural meanings |
| D．the inheritance will cut off their contact with western festivals |
What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Gone are Chinese Traditional Festivals |
| B．True Face of Chinese Traditional Culture |
| C．Foreign Festivals Popular with Chinese |
| D．Chinese Fortune Grandpa VS．Santa Claus |
NO matter which tourist destination you visit, chances are you’ll see Lonely Planet guidebooks in the hands of travelers.
Lonely Planet is one of the world’s largest travel guide brands, publishing more than 500 different guides in eight languages. This year marks the company’s 40th anniversary. The popular brand also produces television shows, websites and podcasts, all dedicated to travel.
Some people praise Lonely Planet books because they make traveling easy and affordable. They save you time and keep you from missing the very best things in a place. And of course, their reviews of hostels, hotels and restaurants, in addition to ticket information about your destination, are useful.
This can be great if you’re a nervous traveler, or if you haven’t traveled by yourself before. If you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language, sometimes there’s nothing better than getting into a taxi and opening up a guidebook. You simply point to a map, directing the taxi driver to a hostel that’s cheap and clean, with friendly staff and cold beer.
But others criticize Lonely Planet and other travel guide publishers. They say guidebooks take the fun and spontaneity(自发性)out of traveling, and that part of the enjoyment of travel comes from the fact that anything can happen. They also lament(哀叹)that if you follow a guidebook, you’ll end up doing the same things and having the same experiences as everyone else. You might end up seeing the same group of people over and over, because everyone is reading the same book and following the same trail.
Another criticism of travel guides is that they have an overly(过度的)large influence on local communities. For example, some locals dedicate their lives solely(仅仅)to behaving in ways that attract tourists. They fake a traditional lifestyle, wear traditional clothes and live in traditional houses just to attract tourists’ dollars.The Lonely Planet guidebook can bring you the following advantages EXCEPT that .
| A．it can help you to save time and money when traveling |
| B．you will not miss the best things without having to make choices |
| C．it provides a lot of useful information about your destination |
| D．you can easily find a nice place to stay in a strange city |
Who will find a Lonely Planet guidebook very useful?
| A．Someone who always takes a taxi when traveling. |
| B．A tourist who likes to repeat others’ experiences. |
| C．A person who’s nervous touring an unfamiliar place. |
| D．A native traveler who is traveling alone. |
People criticize the guidebook because .
| A．the guidebook is not as useful as most travelers expect |
| B．travelers using it will be bored with meeting the same people on their journey |
| C．travelers using it may not get the chance to have unexpected adventures |
| D．local people keep their old lifestyle under the guidebook’s influence |
What does the underlined word“fake”in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．mistake | B．learn | C．pretend | D．create |
Every time Lionel Messi breaks a record, it seems appropriate to compare him to the legends that came before him.
In 2012, he rewrote soccer history on multiple occasions, and his latest record came when he scored his 86th goal of the calendar year, breaking Gerd Muller’s previous mark, before wrapping up the year with 91 goals.
All statistics indicate that Messi is currently the best player in the world, and that he will go down in history as the top footballer of his generation. But when he is judged against all-time greats like Pele and Diego Maradona, he still has work to do.
We don’t know whether the Barcelona striker will have another year in which he records more than 90 goals, but he must still sustain(维持)a similar level of production for the next several seasons.
Messi has already taken part in three of Barcelona’s victorious Champions League(冠军联赛)campaigns, and he played an important role in two of them. In order to firmly establish himself as the greatest club football player in history, he must win the tournament a few more times.
Most importantly, the Argentine(阿根廷人)needs to win on the international stage. Regardless of what Messi does for Barcelona, his legacy will be incomplete if he cannot win the World Cup with Argentina.
Both Pele and Maradona led their countries to the top of international soccer during their careers, and Messi’s performances for his country have been severely disappointing.
While he was still a teenager in 2006-and his lackluster(平淡的)showing is excusable due to his youth-he cannot brush off the disappointment that characterized Argentina’s performance in 2010.
But the 4-0 loss to Germany in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final seems to have sparked Messi. He scored 12 times for Argentina last year, and the next World Cup could finally be Messi’s breakout performance in blue and white stripes.
Due to all of his accomplishments, it is easy to forget that the extraordinary footballer is just 25 years old. If he can avoid injury or lengthy slumps(低潮状态)until his speed and skills start to decline due to age, he may continue to break records and win trophies.What will Messi have to do in order to be complete in his soccer career?
| A．He must win the World Cup with Argentina. |
| B．He must win the tournament a few more times. |
| C．He must defeat Pele and Maradona. |
| D．He must avoid injury or lengthy slumps. |
How was Messi’s performance in 2010 World Cup?
| A．Excellent. |
| B．Inspiring. |
| C．Disappointing. |
| D．Normal. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Messi has firmly established himself as the greatest club soccer player in history. |
| B．Messi will try his best to win the next World Cup with Argentina. |
| C．Messi can avoid injury and lengthy slumps to break records and win trophies. |
| D．Pele and Maradona led their countries to the top of international soccer during their careers. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Lionel Messi, the Best Soccer Player of All Time |
| B．Lionel Messi, the Greatest Soccer Player in History |
| C．Barcelona and Lionel Messi |
| D．World Cup and Lionel Messi |
Move Earth—It’s Not Science Fiction
LONDON—Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets(彗星)in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun, ”Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The Sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so“seriously compromise” our biosphere(生物圈)—by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation(误算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position, it is“most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth”. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
| A．A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth. |
| B．Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon. |
| C．Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive. |
| D．The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth. |
If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of years.
| A．12 billion | B．6 billion |
| C．18 billion | D．24 billion |
What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
| A．The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the Moon. |
| B．Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death. |
| C．The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth. |
| D．Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened. |
What does the underlined word“compromise”mean?
| A．Provide. | B．Benefit. |
| C．Share. | D．Endanger. |