For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect. Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication(含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall effort, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PHD, tested the effects of over-praise on 400 fifth graders while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“Praising attributes(品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues effort, so children are afraid to take on challenges,” says Dweck, now at Stanford University, “They figure they’d better quit while they’re ahead.”The underlined words “Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are ______.
A.tired of being praised | B.worthy of being praised |
C.very proud of being praised | D.extremely fond of being praised |
The author quoted Dr.Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.
A.better-known | B.better-organized |
C.more persuasive | D.more interesting |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
A.praise for efforts should be more encouraged |
B.praise for results works better than praise for efforts |
C.praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life |
D.praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges |
Many people believe the glare(炫目的光)from snow causes snowblindness. Yet, with dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snowblindness ,when exposed to several hours of“ snow light”.
The United States army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow -covered country. Rather ,a man’s eyes frequently find nothing to focus on (聚集)in a broad space of snow- covered without- grass land. So his gaze continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding something, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become tired and the eye muscles ache. Nature makes up for this discomfort by producing more and more fluid (流体) which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until it makes eyes difficult to see dearly, and the result is total, even though for a short time, snowblindness.
Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts(侦察兵)ahead of the troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow - covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark - colored objects ahead on which they can focus too. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop searching the snow -blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time. the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a continuous white land is overcome.To prevent snowblindness caused by the strong light from snow, wearing glasses or not ________.
A.depends on whether the snow is white enough |
B.makes no difference |
C.makes much difference |
D.depends on whether the snow is thick |
When the eyes are tired, tears flow out ________.
A.to clear the vision |
B.to make the eyes stop searching |
C.to make the vision unclear |
D.to produce more and more liquid |
Snowblindness can be avoided ________.
A.by moving one’s gaze back and forth |
B.by walking ahead and keeping looking around |
C.by making up for the discomfort of one’s eyes |
D.by providing the eyes with something to focus on |
The dream of flying into outer space, cherished by the Chinese people for centuries, will soon come true.
China launched its fourth unmanned spacecraft (飞船)“Shenzhou Ⅳ” on December 30 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. It was the 27th consecutive(连续的)and successful launch of China - made rockets since October 1996. This launch has made it more realistic for China to send a person into space on its own following Russia and the USA.
Qi Faren,leading designer of the spacecraft system, said all the functions (功能) designed for manned flights have withstood (经受住)the test of three previous, successful launches and return landings of the “Shenzhou” spaceships.
China launched the “Shenzhou Ⅰ ”, “Shenzhou Ⅱ ”and “Shenzhou Ⅲ ”spacecrafts in 1999,2001 and 2002 respectively.
“Shouzhou Ⅳ” was to make it a more comfortable place in which astronauts can live and work. All parts of the application system for manned flight are aboard the “Shenzhou Ⅳ”craft in all test flights.
China’s manned flight programme began in 1992. A number of unmanned test flights will be launched before Chinese astronauts are sent into space.
Leading scientists in charge of China’s manned space programme said the successful launch of the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” laid a solid foundation for the country’s future task of sending Chinese astronauts to outer space.
The spacecraft returned to the earth on January 5, after completing seven experiments in space.
Officials at the centre said that“ Shenzhou Ⅴ”, a manned spacecraft, is expected to be launched later this year.
How many countries can send a person into space on its own by now?
A.2. | B.3. |
C.4. | D.Not mentioned. |
China’s manned flight programme began in ________.
A.1992 | B.October 1996. |
C.1999 | D.January 2003 |
As a matter of fact, ________ .
A.“Shenzhou Ⅴ ”has been launched |
B.“Shenzhou Ⅳ” was a manned spacecraft |
C.“Shenzhou Ⅲ ”and“ Shenzhou Ⅳ” were not launched in the same year |
D.the dream of man flying into outer space has come true in China |
Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
A.The Successful Launching of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
B.The Landing of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
C.Chin a’s Manned Flight Programme. |
D.The Third Country Sending a Person into Outer Space. |
Life on land probably began about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years. When we think of the first thing on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but in fact no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first. Plants had to be on land before animals arrived. They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessity, since they, the plants, are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy.
The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae(海藻)which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce. Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution(进化)took place quickly. By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots(根),and some had got tree -like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight. About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees. In most ways they were like modern trees. They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds.
The main idea of the first paragraph is ________.
A.life on land probably began 430 years ago |
B.the first animal on land came from oceans |
C.there wouldn't be animals without plants |
D.plants are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.Algae has existed for more than 430 million years. |
B.It is impossible that algae might be the earliest plant on land. |
C.Plants get food from animals in the oceans. |
D.Evolution began after animals appeared on land. |
Plants with roots appeared about ________ million years ago.
A.430 | B.300 | C.330 | D.100 |
According to the passage, ________ appeared earlier than ________.
A.apples; oranges | B.oranges; apples |
C.oranges; roses | D.algae; wheat |
Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique(古董)shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean?You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused(感到有趣)by the whole thing.
We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.
A.was rather impolite |
B.was warmly received |
C.asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
D.asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.
A.changed his mind | B.accepted the offer |
C.saw the writer’s purpose | D.decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
A.£ 5. | B.£ 7. | C.£ 20. | D.£ 27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________
A.hanest | B.careful | C.smart | D.funny |
How many coins nave you got in your pocket right now? Three? Two? A bent one?
With a phonecard you can make up to 200 calls without any change at all.
(1) What do you do with it?
Go to a telephone box marked(you guessed it) “phonecard”.Put in your card, make your call and when you’ve finished, a screen tells you how much is left on your card.
(2) Now appear in a shop near you.
Near each Cardphone place you’ll find a shop where you can buy one. They’re at bus, train and city tube stations(地铁).
Many universities, hospitals and clubs. Restaurants and gas stations on the highway and shopping centres. At airports and seaports.
(3) No more broken payphones.
Most broken payphones are like that because they’ve been vandalized(故意破坏). There are no coins in Cardphone to excite thieves’ interest in it. So you’re not probably to find a vandalized one.
Get a phonecard yourself and try it out ,or get a bigger wallet.
The passage is most probably ________ .
A.a warning |
B.a note |
C.an advertisement(广告) |
D.an announcement |
There are three sections(部分) in the passage. Which section do you think is about why phonecards are good?
A.Section 1. | B.Section 2. |
C.Section 3. | D.None. |
Choose the right order or the steps under“How do you use a phonecard”.
a. Put in your phonecard.
b. Look at the screen to find out how many calls you can still make.
c. Go to a telephone box marked “Phonecard”.
d. Make your call.
A.a, b, c, d | B.c, a, d, b |
C.a, d, c, b | D.c, d, a, b |