Parents who feel disappointed at their teenagers’ failure to pay attention in class, and inability to sit quietly long enough to finish homework or plan ahead, should take solace. Their children are not being lazy or careless, according to new research.
The research has found that teenagers’ brains continue developing far longer into adulthood than we used to think. Teens may look like young adults but their brain structure is similar to that of much younger children.
“It is not always easy for teens to pay attention in class without letting their minds wander, or to ignore distractions from their younger brothers or sisters when trying to solve a maths problem,” said Dr Iroise Dumon-theil. “But it’s not the fault of teenagers that they can’t pay attention and are easily distracted. It’s to do with the structure of their brains. Teens simply can’t think as well as an adult.”
The research showed that the brain of a teenager works less effectively than that of an adult. “We knew that the front of the brain of teens functioned in a chaotic (混乱的) way but we didn’ t realize it continued until the late 20s or early 30s,” said Dr Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who led the research.
Chaotic thought patterns are a result of teenagers’ brains containing too much grey matter — the cell bodies and connections which carry messages within the brain. As we age, the amount of grey matter in our brain reduces.
“What our research has shown is that there is simply too much going on in the brains of teens,” said Blakemore. “The result is that their brain energy and resources are wasted and their decision-making process is badly influenced. Adults, on the other hand, have less grey matter. This means that the brain works far more effectively.”The underlined word “solace” in Paragraph 1 may mean _____.
| A． notice | B．medicine | C． comfort | D．action |
When making decisions, _____.
| A． teens’ brains continue to do much needless work |
| B． the grey matter in young children’s front brain becomes active |
| C． people are not likely to be distracted until their late 30s |
| D． adults are more independent than teens |
What is the effect of having too much grey matter?
| A． It makes us always feel disappointed. |
| B． It makes us more intelligent. |
| C． It had a bad effect on the growth of teens. |
| D． It had a bad effect on decision-making. |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A． Teens have different brains from those of children. |
| B． Adults work more effectively than teens. |
| C． Grey matter makes teens unable to pay attention. |
| D． Brain energy is wasted in the brain’s activity. |
Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV, according to results of a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published Thursday.
The survey, of citizens of five Chinese cities, found that 79 percent of interviewees use the internet for information, and 55.1 percent to read news on the internet. About 63 percent of the interviewees use e-mail. The average times spent surfing the net and watching TV were 2.73 hours and 1.29hours, respectively.
Only 10.4 percent reported use the internet primarily to send and receive email; 65.9 percent read online news; 62.2 quite often play games on-line. More and more people have taken an interest in the entertainment opportunities online. Up to 56.5 percent of interviewees quite often download music, and 53.5 percent get entertainment messages from the internet.
Yet the survey found that television is still the dominant mass medium. Seventy-nine percent of interviewees choose to watch TV to get information, and another 75 percent take newspapers as important as TV.
Five major web sites in the Chinese language, namely Sina, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Yahoo are still ranked top ones by web users, and those that voted for Sina as the best among them were 30.9 percent.
Authorized statistics showed that web users in China have already exceeded 100 million, second to that of the United States.Which of the following is not true?
| A．Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV. |
| B．There are more Chinese people using the internet for information compared with those reading news on the internet. |
| C．There are more people using e-mail compared with those searching information on the internet. |
| D．There are more people using e-mail compared with those reading news on the internet. |
The survey shows that .
| A．Only 10.4% reported use the internet to send and receive email. |
| B．Less than half of the people use the internet for enter fain-ment. |
| C．All of the people reported like to play games on-line. |
| D．Most of the people reported read online news. |
Which will you choose if you want to chat with your friends on the internet?
| A．TV | B．Sina | C．telephone | D．QQ |
The underlined word “exceeded” means .
| A．increased to | B．increased by | C．risen | D．decreased |
Woman’s Day
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P.O. Box: 5252, Sydney, NSW 2001 (Postage free within Australia) Which of the following is included in the requirements for the manuscripts?
| A．They should be handwritten. |
| B．They should have no empty lines between lines. |
| C．They should be on the front of the page only. |
| D．They should include contributor’s (投稿人) age. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The contributors must keep copies of their manuscripts. |
| B．Woman’s Day is most probably a monthly magazine. |
| C．The editor will pay for the damage or loss of the manuscripts. |
| D．It takes several weeks before the manuscripts are published. |
According to the passage the copyright holders are ____ .
| A．those who copy the articles in Woman’s Day |
| B．the producers of Woman’s Day |
| C．the readers of Woman’s Day |
| D．those who subscribe Woman’s Day |
Apart from the website, how many other ways can people gain information from the magazine?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. “I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down,” says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a one-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers .
Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. “I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling (回收利用)?” said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste. The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to ____.
| A．the rapid development of small businesses | B．the opening up of new markets |
| C．the printing of high quality copies | D．the increased use of the Internet |
Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is ____.
| A．to encourage printing more quality documents | B．to develop new printers using recycled paper |
| C．to find new materials for making paper | D．to plant more fast-growing trees |
Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because ____.
| A．people are concerned about the environment | B．printers in many offices are working overtime |
| C．small companies need more hard copies | D．they see a growing market for printers |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Computers and Printers | B．E-mail and the Business World |
| C．Internet Revolution and Environment | D．Modern Technology and New Markets |
In 1918, after four years of war which had left millions of people dead, the people alive began to look for a better and happier world. The cinema supplied an answer. For little money, people could forget their unhappy lives and dream of better ones. In the years between 1918 and 1939, going to the cinema became the most popular family free-time activity.
Hollywood in America, made more films than any other film center in the world. The warm climate and long hours of sunlight meant that film-making was easy and quite cheap. This was also a rich part of America and there were many businessmen who wanted to make money from the film industry. At first short cowboy films were popular because they added excitement and adventure to people’s lives. Later comedy films were made so that people could laugh and forget their troubles.
Charlie Chaplin was probably the most liked of all comedy actors. Cinema became the most popular in people’s free time because ____.
| A．it was cheap | B．it was safe |
| C．it could make people happy | D．both A and C |
Which, according to the writer, is true?
| A．Hollywood made more films than some film centers in the world. |
| B．Many businessmen came to Hollywood in order to make films. |
| C．Hollywood was not the biggest producer of films in the world. |
| D．No other film center made more films than Hollywood did. |
Hollywood became a film center because ____.
| A．film-making there was cheap and easy | B．it enjoyed long hours of sunlight |
| C．it was a rich part of America | D．many businessmen went there |
A “comedy” is something that is ____.
| A．funny | B．exciting | C．full of danger | D．Sad |
Televisiozn —— that most widespread and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth —— is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary advancement and diversity, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.
The word ‘television’, coming from its Greek ( tele: distant) and Latin ( vision: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through an advanced system of electronics, television provides the capability of changing an image ( focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera ) into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be electronically reorganized into that same image.
Television is more than just an electronics system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a tool for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings. The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission(播送，中转). First, there is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through airwave transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled transmission techniques.
Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form similar to that exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major providers of news, information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our understanding of it as well. We have come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer. What seems to be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Powerful Tool of Entertainment. | B．The Means of Transmission of TV. |
| C．TV: Its Working Rules and Functions. | D．A Brief Introduction to the Development of TV. |
The rapid change and growth of TV is due to the contributions of ____ .
| A．computer technologies | B．a new means of transmission |
| C．a powerful vehicle of communication | D．TV giants like ABC, NBC and CBS |
The use of the second means of transmission is to meet the requirements of ____.
| A．the people especially interested in nonbroadcast program. |
| B．certain groups of people. |
| C．the people with a special interest in cable TV. |
| D．the people interested in controlled transmission techniques. |
The underlined “very simply put” in Paragraph 2 means ____.
| A．when it is simply put down | B．when it is put to simple tasks |
| C．if it is put to simple uses | D．if it is expressed in a simply way |