Memory, they say, is a matter of practice and exercise. If you have the wish and really made a conscious(自觉的)effort, then you can quite easily improve your ability to remember things. But even if you are successful, there are times when your memory seems to play tricks on you.
Sometimes you remember things that really did not happen. One morning last week, for example, I got up and found that I had left the front door unlocked all night, yet I clearly remember locking it carefully the night before.
Memory “trick” work the other way as well. Once in a while you remember not doing something, and then find out that you did. One day last month, for example, I was sitting in a barber(理发师)shop waiting for my turn to get a haircut, and suddenly I realized that I had got a haircut two days before at the barber shop across the street from my office.
We always seem to find something funny and amusing(有趣的)in incidents caused by people’s forgetfulness or absent-mindedness. Stories about absent-minded professors have been told for years, and we never got tired of hearing new ones. Unfortunately, however, absent-mindedness is not always funny. There are times when “trick” of our memory can cause us great trouble.If you want to have a good memory, .
A.you should force yourself to remember things |
B.you should make a conscious effort of practice and exercise |
C.you should never stop learning |
D.you should try hard to remember tings |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.One night the writer forgot to lock the front door. |
B.One night the writer forgot having locked the front door. |
C.The writer remembered to lock the door. |
D.the writer remembered unlocking the front door. |
In the passage, the writer seems to tell you .
A.forgetting things is serious and dangerous |
B.always forgetting things is understandable |
C.forgetting things at times is natural |
D.the way to protect yourself from memory “tricks” |
The best title for this passage is .
A.How to Get a Good Memory |
B.“Tricks” Of Memory |
C.Forgetfulness and Absent-mindedness is Dangerous |
D.Get Rid of Absent-mindedness |
When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say: “Thank you”. This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice. I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in terms of practicing what I teach.
In my work I travel constantly. I always put off going to the airport until the last second. My wife, Lyda, was sitting next to me in the front seat. I was racing along and not paying much attention. Lyda cried out! “Look out! There is a red light up ahead. ”
Being a trained behavioral science professional—who teaches others the value of encouraging advice—I screamed at her: “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lyda didn’t speak to me. I wondered why she seemed mad at me.
During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis. I asked myself: “What was the cost of just listening when Lyda called out the warning? Zero.” I then reasoned: “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people.
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I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself. I immediately called Lyda and told her my cost-benefit story. I convinced her: “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you.’”
A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident. Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lyda cried out: “Look out for the red light!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted: “Thank you!”第二部分.阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分,第二节每小题1分;满分45分)
阅读下面五篇短文,从每题后所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案。The Worst Part
Mom is usually home on Sunday but this week she was going to a big golf game and I was all alone in the house.
I was mad at Mom for divorcing Dad.
I kept looking at the telephone until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I picked up the receiver and dialed Dad’s number over in Bakersfield. I even remembered to dial 1 first because it was long distance. “You promised to phone me this week but you didn’t,” I said, feeling I had to talk to him.
“Take it easy, kid,” he said. “I just didn’t get around to it. I was going to call this evening. The week isn’t over yet.”
I thought about that.
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
“I hoped you would call, so I waited and waited.” Then I was sorry I said it.
“There was heavy snow in the morning,” he said, “I had to chain up on highway 80 and lost time.”
I know putting chains on eight big wheels in the snow is no fun. I felt a little better, as long as we were talking. “How is Bandit?” I asked.
There was a funny silence. For a minute I thought the line was dead. Then I knew something must have happened to my dog.
“Well, kid—”, he began. “My name is Leigh!” I almost yelled. “I’m not just some kid you met on the street!”
“Keep your shirt on, Leigh,” he said. “When I had to stop along with some other truckers to put on chains, I left Bandit out of the cab, I thought he would get back … I have sent out a call to CB radio, but I didn’t get an answer yet.” I was about to say I understood when there came the bad part, the really bad part. I heard a boy’s voice say, “Hey, Bill, Mom wants to know when we’re going out to get the pizza?”
41.From the story we know that______ .
A.Leigh’s dad never had a rest on Sundays
B.Leigh was a deserted boy
C.Leigh’s dad lived in another city
D.Leigh’s mother often went to golf games
42.What happened to Bandit?
A.It was frozen to death. B.It was let out of the cab and got lost
C.It was killed by a truck. D.It ran off Highway 80 and into the mountain.
43.The underlined sentence “Keep your shirt on” probably means “ ______ ”.
A.Listen to reason B.Stop talking C.Calm down D.Keep warm
44.The worst part in Leigh’s eyes may be that______ .
A.his dad got remarried B.his parents got divorced
C.his dad didn’t love him D.his mom didn’t take him to pizza
Contrary to the impression that grandmothers are delighted to help their grown daughters and care for their grandchildren, a study of multigenerational families shows that many older women hate the frequent demands that the younger generations make on their time and energy.
“Young women with children are under a lot of pressure these days, and they expect their mothers to help them pick up the pieces,” noted Dr.Bertram J.Cohler, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago.“This is often the strongest source of complaint on the part of Grandmother, who has finished with child caring and now has her own life to live.Grandmothers like to see their children and grandchildren, but on their own time.”
Dr.Cohler is director of a study, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, of 150 workingclass families that live in a Midwestern suburb.He and Dr.Henry U.Gruebaum of Harvard Medical School, have already completed their study of four such families in New England.
Dr.Cohler tells of a middle-aged Boston woman who works as a cook all week and for her parish (教区) on Sundays.Every Saturday, her one day off, her daughter and family visit, expecting mother to make lunch, shop, and visit.“That's not how she wants to grow old,” said Dr.Cohler, who was told by the older woman, “My daughter would never speak to me if she knew how angry and unhappy I get.”
In all the four New England families studied, the older women disliked the numerous phone calls and visits from their grown daughters, who often turned to the mothers for advice, physical resources, love, and companionship as well as baby-sitting services.“American society keeps increasing the burdens for older people, particularly those in their 50s and 60s,” Dr.Cohler said in an interview here.“They're still working and they're taking care of their grown children and maybe also their aged parents.Sometimes life gets to be too much.”
67.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “pick up the pieces” in the second paragraph?
A.Save a bad situation. B.Put children's toys in their proper places.
C.Gather up pieces of clothing. D.Keep the room in good order.
68.The middle-aged Boston woman ______.
A.expects her mother to cook lunch for her
B.enjoys the room in good order
C.visits an older woman every Saturday
D.works six days a week
69.The passage is mainly about ______.
A.young women's inability to look after their children
B.Grandmothers' attitudes toward helping their grown daughters
C.average American women's family life
D.grandmother should give more help to their daughters
70.From Dr.Cohler's study we may reach the conclusion that ______.
A.daughters should be independent of their old grandmothers
B.grandmother should give more help to their daughters
C.mothers and daughters should support each other
D.daughters should be more considerate toward their mothers
It is natural that children are curious about the world around them.For example, they want to know how their hearts beat.They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things.When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers.They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky.Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars.And when they are adults, their curiosity continues.Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career in science.
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world.Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the sky.Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences.A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e.g.physics, chemistry .
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world.For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run.They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats 65 or 75 times a minute.Your heart is a pump that pumps blood to all parts of the body.The blood carries oxygen and nutrition.When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them.The muscles need oxygen, too.So your brain sends a signal to the heart.The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen.Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles.It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions.If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks.When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks.Rain falls into cracks.The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers.The rivers carry the salt into the ocean.But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.
63.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.People are curious in the same way.
B.People in different countries are interested in different things.
C.People of different ages are interested in different things.
D.Men and women are curious about different things.
64.Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.
A.the earth , the oceans and the sky B.plants and animals
C.man-made things D.ocean water
65.A rock cracks _____.
A.in wet regions B.in dry regions
C.when salty water falls in D.at very high or very low temperatures
66.People are always curious because _____ .
A.they know little about the world B.they know nothing about the world
C.they can not explain many things D.they want to be scientists
Just at that time, a telegram arrived from his brother.Mr.Jameson opened it quickly.It said, “Come home at once.Your wife is ill and in a critical condition.West End Hospital.”Mr.Jameson began to think.Since the work at the mine was going well, he decided to go home at once.He just told himself again and again that he couldn’t lose his wife, or his life would be meaningless.
At about 6 the next morning, he and one of his assistants reached Lamesa, where they were going to Chicago at 6:30.There was still half an hour left before the train started, so Mr.Jameson decided to telephone to Chicago to ask about his wife.And after that, if still enough time was left he could see a doctor and have the piece of coal or the piece of metal removed out of his eye.His eye and his whole head ached now.
After he sent his assistant to the railway station to buy tickets for the train, he went to make the phone call.When the operator put through his call, he sat down and waited.His eye felt like a piece of hot iron.And he was worried about his sick wife.The phone rang.Soon Mr.Jameson talked with the hospital in Chicago.A voice said, “Yes, sir! Your wife is here.She is much better.There is no danger now.You don’t have to return.”
Everything was all right.His wife was going to live.He would not lose his wife.Quite excited, Mr.Jameson began to cry like a little child and could not stop.Big tears rolled out of his eyes and down his cheeks.Soon his eye felt better.He touched his eye and felt something in the corner of his eye.That was a small piece of coal.His tears had washed it out of his eye!
59.What happened to Mr.Jameson before setting off?
A.He was hurt and couldn’t walk.
B.His eye was suffering from a certain disease.
C.A small piece of coal stuck him in the eye.
D.A piece of metal got into his eye.
60.The writer doesn’t mention but we can infer that Mr.Jameson probably _____.
A.worked in a factory in Chicago
B.worked as a mining engineer in a company
C.was worried about his work on the way to Chicago
D.sold coal in a faraway village
61.How was the coal removed out of Mr.Jameson’s eye?
A.It was taken out by a doctor.
B.A good rest helped it out.
C.He rubbed his eyes slightly.
D.It was washed out by his tears.
62.How can we describe the feeling of Mr.Jameson?
A.Worried ---relaxed B.Excited ---dull
C.Anger---calm. D.Depressed ---nervous.