Many years ago in a small German town, a Jewish businessman had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the businessman’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and he would forgo her father’s debt. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble-strewn path. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. No doubt she was caught in a dilemma.
What would you have done if you were the girl? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1.The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2.The girl should know that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3.The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral (横向的)and logical thinking.
Read on…
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.The underlined word “forgo” in paragraph 2 may mean ________.
| A．pay off | B．run out | C．take over | D．give up |
Which of the following indicates lateral thinking?
| A．The girl refused to take a pebble and fled at once. |
| B．The girl exposed the cheat and found another way. |
| C．The girl picked one pebbles and made it disappear. |
| D．The girl picked a black pebble and accepted the result. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．The girl dropped the pebble onto the path on purpose |
| B．The girl dropped the pebble onto the path by accident |
| C．The girl didn’t know there were two black pebbles in the bag |
| D．The girl replaced a black pebble in the bag |
What lesson can we learn from the story?
| A．Keeping calm when facing a difficult situation. |
| B．Thinking about a complicated problem in another way. |
| C．Thinking twice before making a final choice. |
| D．Coming up with a clever answer is easy. |
It’s the lunchtime break at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared.
A grade-2 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate during classes if the cell phone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”
The school authorities say they feel the ban is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible (灵活的) in implementing the ban. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to switch them off in classrooms.
Medical experts have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in teenage students.The grade-2 student thought that _______.
| A．the mobile phone should be on during classes |
| B．it is good to play cell phone games sometimes |
| C．the mobile phone is helpful to her studies |
| D．it is no good using the cell phone at school |
According to the passage, the students use their mobile phones except _______.
| A．contacting their parents | B．cheating in exams |
| C．sending short messages | D．playing games |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．All the parents welcome the school decision. |
| B．Some students can bring mobile phones to school. |
| C．Medical experts are against the school decision. |
| D．No one is allowed to bring his mobile phone to school. |
What does the underlined word “implementing” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Carrying out | B．Giving up |
| C．Making up | D．Finding out |
The passage mainly tells us _______.
| A．the mobile phone is a big trouble to teenage students |
| B．the use of the mobile phone can cause mental problems |
| C．about a ban on the mobile phone in a middle school |
| D．a story happening at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School |
More than 30,000 people went to the White House on Monday for the 136th Easter Egg Roll (复活节滚彩蛋). President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama held the event by inviting thousands of kids to color and look for eggs. The theme(主题) of the day was “Hop Into Healthy, Swing Into Shape.” It was part of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” program to reduce obesity rates (肥胖率) among American kids. Mrs. Obama spoke to young reporters about her goal(目标) to get children to eat right and keep moving.
“We are working to make sure that kids born today grow up healthy, learn how to have balanced meals, and get more physical activity into their lives,” she said.
Mrs. Obama said she wants children across the nation to understand that "exercise isn't just hard work, it's play. If you’re running around with your dog, you're getting exercise. If you walk up the stairs, that's exercise, But if you’re sitting in front of the TV or on a computer game, you're not exercising.”
The First Lady said that for kids who have balanced meals most of the time, having a special snack, like chocolate, will not hurt." And if you are active, you can splurge (挥霍) a little more," she said. Mrs. Obama’s favorite "splurge food" is French fries. But she balances her splurging by exercising almost every day. She loves to play tennis and she practices yoga.
“A lot of kids look up to(敬仰) athletes, and I think it's important for athletes to share their good habits,” Mrs. Obama said. "Kids aren’t just going to wake up and be LeBron James. He's practicing and eating right and working out and training. Our athletes can be really good messengers to kids who look up to them--they can say to kids, 'If you really want to be like me, then you really do need to eat your vegetables.’”The purpose of the “Let’s Move!” program is to.
| A．help kids keep healthy |
| B．train more young reporters |
| C．encourage kids to eat more eggs |
| D．invite kids to visit the White House |
In Mrs. Obama’s opinion, exercise .
| A．can be fun to do |
| B．means hard work |
| C．should be done outdoors |
| D．requires special equipment |
“Splurge food” is allowed to be eaten when .
| A．you don' t hurt yourself |
| B．you have a special snack |
| C．you never eat French fries |
| D．you eat right and stay active |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．All kids want to be LeBron James. |
| B．It is very easy to form good habits. |
| C．Athletes can set a good example for kids. |
| D．Kids like the messages the athletes give them. |
In which part of a newspaper will the text most probably appear?
| A．Business. | B．Health. |
| C．Culture. | D．Education. |
Having Breakfast Or Not
Will it matter if you don’t take your breakfast? A short time ago, a test (试验) was given in the United States. People of different ages, from 12 to 83, were asked to have a test. During the test, these people were given all kinds of breakfast, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Scientists (科学家) wanted to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten different kinds of breakfast.
The results show that if a person eats a right breakfast, he or she will work better than if he or she has no breakfast. If a student has fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he or she will learn more quickly and listen more carefully in class. The result is opposite to what some people think. Having no breakfast will not help you lose weight (减轻体重). This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch. They will gain weight (增加体重) instead of losing it. You will lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.During the test, the people were given ________.
| A．no breakfast at all |
| B．very rich breakfast |
| C．different foods or sometimes none |
| D．little food for breakfast |
The results show that ________.
| A．breakfast has little to do with a person’s work |
| B．breakfast has great effect (影响) on work and studies |
| C．a person will work better if he only has fruit and milk |
| D．girl students should have less for breakfast |
According to (根据) the passage, some people think that if you don’t have breakfast, you will _______.
| A．be healthier | B．work better |
| C．lose weight | D．fail the test |
The word “reduce” in the last sentence means _________ .
| A．减少 | B．增加 | C．放弃 | D．享用 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．It is bad for your health to have no breakfast. |
| B．Too little for breakfast and too much for lunch may make you fatter. |
| C．If you don’t eat much for lunch and supper, you may lose weight. |
| D．The more breakfast you have, the more quickly you’ll learn in class. |
The story is about two old people named David and Rosy Jackson. Both of them had very bad memories. For example, Rosy would forget to cook dinner or take vegetables home after paying for them. David would show up for work on Sundays, thinking it was Monday. One winter they were to take a long plane trip. When they arrived at the airport, there were only ten minutes left. In that situation, anyone would get into the plane right away. But David and Rosy didn’t do so. They went to buy some flight insurance(保险) instead. Immediately after they put a two-pound note into a machine, their policy (保险单) came out.
“Who would get the money if the plane crashed, I wonder?” asked Rosy. “My mother, of course,” her husband replied. “We should post the policy to her. Now, be quick! Give me a stamp, will you?” he said to Rosy. “The plane is going to take off in another minute.” David put the stamp on the envelope, dropped it into a postbox, and suddenly he let out a cry.
What do you suppose happened to him? He had posted their plane tickets to his mother.Rosy is David’s ______.
| A．friend | B．mother | C．sister | D．wife |
This passage tells us that David and Rosy ______.
| A．were always short of time |
| B．always did everything in a great hurry |
| C．were very forgetful |
| D．usually worked on Sundays |
David meant to post his mother _____.
| A．two plane tickets | B．a two-pound note |
| C．the flight insurance | D．an empty envelope |
Mr Jackson made such a foolish mistake because ______.
| A．he was worried about his mother |
| B．he had forgotten to buy a stamp |
| C．he was worried about this flight |
| D．his memory was poor and he posted the letter in a great hurry |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．A forgetful old couple. |
| B．Two plane tickets. |
| C．A pleasant flight. |
| D．A plane crash. |
Victor’s hobby was collecting stamps. He had stamps from many countries, like England, Canada and China. On his birthday, can you guess what people gave him? That’s right--stamps.
Victor’s favourite stamps came from France. He had almost every stamp from 1954 to 2004. He only needed one. That was a 1974 special edition(版本). It was very hard to find.
He looked for it everywhere. He asked his friends and relatives to help him. But nobody could find the stamp. It made Victor very sad.
“Don’t worry. Never give up,” his father said to him. “If you have enough patience, you’ll find it one day.”
“I hope so,” Victor said.
Victor also liked writing. He had a penfriend in France. They wrote to each other every month. Victor’s penfriend, Phillip, usually used new stamps to send letters. Sometimes, his mother gave him stamps to use. Once Phillip’s mother gave him a big, green stamp. It looked old. When Victor received the letter, he was very surprised. On the envelope, he looked carefully at the stamp. It was the 1974 special edition stamp. Victor was so happy. He told his sister, his mother and his father.
“You see,” his father said. “ You did find your stamp. So, it’s good to have two things in life.”
“What are they?” Victor asked.
“ Friends and patience.” He answered.It was very difficult for Victor to find a special French stamp of _________.
| A．1954 | B．1974 | C．1994 | D．2004 |
What does the underlined word “patience” mean?
| A．勇气 | B．知识 | C．耐心 | D．目标 |
Who owned the special edition stamp at the very beginning?
| A．Phillip. | B．Phillip’s mother. |
| C．Victor. | D．Victor’s father. |
Which sentence is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Victor’s father didn’t support his hobby. |
| B．Victor both liked collecting stamps and writing. |
| C．Phillip’s mother wanted his son to write letters to Victor. |
| D．Phillip was from France. |
The passage mainly tells us that ________ is(are) important to people.
| A．a happy family |
| B．a good hobby |
| C．relatives and friendship |
| D．friends and patience |