AlettertoHeroSchoolWeeklyNovem-优题课

To err is human. To blame（责备） the other guy is even more human.
Common sense is not all that common.
Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?
These three popular misquotes（戏谑的引语）are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature. To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don’t want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do. The original quote about human nature went like this: “To err is human, to forgive, divine（神圣的）.” This saying mirrors an ideal: People should be forgiving of others’ mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite – find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a mark of great maturity（成熟）.
Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Common sense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine. Common sense does not seem to be common for large companies, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company, “the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”
And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people, get the idea that it’s okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary（直接推论）to that: if a good excuse is “good” even if it isn’t honest, then where is the place of the truth?
Which of the following is NOT based on common sense?

A．A secretary works to a timetable.

B．A company’s next move follows a good plan.

C．A girl goes out with an umbrella in stormy weather.

D．A man tries to manage everything in a large company.

What can we infer from the last paragraph according to the writer?

A．A good excuse is the same as honesty.

B．Inventing a good excuse needs creative ideas.

C．Unpleasant truth is better than a good excuse.

D．Making a good excuse is sometimes a better idea.

What would be the best title for this passage?

A．A Mirror of Human Nature

B．To Blame or to Forgive

C．A Mark of Maturity

D．Truth or Excuse

For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He didn’t do much better in sports. Although he played for the school’s golf team, he lost the only important match of the season.
Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates…everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being refused.
However, one thing was important to Sparky – drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down, Sparky was so confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.
After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time on it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected（拒绝）once again. Another loss for the loser.
So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography（自传）in cartoons. He described his childhood – a little boy loser and underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had little success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip（连环漫画）and little cartoon character – Charlie Brown.
We can know that Sparky was ________ from the first paragraph.

A．a top student

B．an artist

C．a good player

D．a failure

Sparky never asked a classmate to go out because he ______.

A．had never been invited

B．didn’t like making friends

C．didn’t want to be refused

D．was afraid of making mistakes

What’s Sparky’s success according to the passage?

A．He was good at golf playing.

B．He wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios.

C．He drew some cartoons for the Yearbook.

D．His Peanuts comic strip became world famous.

Mrs. Chang, a new teacher at Park School, wants to know her students in Class 5, Grade 3. Here are the introductions of some of the students.

Names	Introductions
Kelly	Kelly has to go to cram school from 6:20 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.
Susan	Because Susan lives too far away, she usually comes to school late.
Nicole	Nicole is a good student who does well on tests and helps others solve math questions.
Jane	Jane likes to do housework at home and helps clean the classroom.
Tom	Tom never goes to school on time and seldom finishes homework.
Jordan	He likes sports a lot and usually plays basketball in the park right after school.
May	May is friendly and likes to help people.
Mark	Mark does well on tests, but he is shy and doesn’t like to help his classmates.
Carol	She is Mrs. Chang’s best assistant that will do everything for her!

Who likes sports a lot?

A．Jordan.

B．Susan.

C．Carol.

D．Jane.

What does Jane like to do?

A．To go to school late.

B．To help clean the classroom.

C．To play basketball in the park.

D．To help others solve math questions.

Who does well on tests?

A．Kelly and Tom.	B．Nicole and Jordan.
C．May and Mark.	D．Nicole and Mark.

“Life’s a long, long journey(旅程)” so we are told, and most of us would not set off on a journey, even a short one, without some idea of where we wanted to go. Yet many people travel on life’s journey with no sense of direction at all.
Setting personal goals can give your life a sense of direction. Goal setting is used by top sports players, successful business people and achievers in all fields. Before you set personal goals, think about what you want to achieve with your life.
Try to set goals in some of the following categories.

Education—Will you achieve the educational goals after finishing high-school? Are you still growing and learning?
Family—What kind of relationship（关系）do you want with your parents and other family members?
Creative—Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?

Career—What job do you want to take when you grow up? What do you need to make your dream come true?
Public Service—Do you want to make the world a better place?
Physical—Are you fit enough to do the things you want to do?
Pleasure—How do you want to enjoy yourself?

Write down the goals and think about them carefully. Are they realistic? When will you be able to achieve them?
To help make the process (过程) more manageable, divide your goals into smaller tasks. For example, if you want to reach a main goal in five years, set a three-year goal, a one-year goal, a three-month goal and a one-month goal. Then create a daily To-Do List of things that you should do today. When a goal is achieved, take the time to enjoy your success. This helps you build the self-confidence.
Remember, your goals can change as time goes on. But be sure your goals are things you hope to achieve, not what your parents, family or teachers want.
Is life a long journey according to the passage?
Why do you need to set your life goal?
What should you consider when you set a family goal?
How can we achieve the main goal easily?
What does the writer want to tell us?

Children can spend hours a day looking at computer screens and other digital devices(数码设备). Some eye doctors say this leads to an increase in “computer vision syndrome(电脑视力综合症).”
Nathan Bonilla-Warford is an optometrist（验光师）in Tampa, Florida. He has seen an increase in problems in children. “A lot more children come into the office either because their parents have noticed that they have headaches or red or watery eyes or discomfort, or because their nearsightedness appears to be increasing and they’re worried,” he says.
Dr. Bonilla-Warford says part of the problem is that children may be more likely to pay no attention to early warning signs than adults. “Even if their eyes start to feel uncomfortable or they start to get a headache, they’re less likely to tell their parents, because they don’t want to have the game or the computer or whatever taken away,” he explains.
He says another part of the problem is that people blink（眨眼）less often when they use digital devices. He says, “A person who uses an electronic device blinks about one third as much as we normally do in everyday life. And so that can result in the front part of the eye drying and not staying protected like normal.”
Eye doctors offer suggestions like following which is known as the 20/20/20 rule. That means every twenty minutes look away twenty feet or more for at least twenty seconds from whatever device you’re using.
Other suggestions include putting more distance between you and the device and using good lighting. Of course, another way is to spend less time looking at screens. Many experts say children should spend no more than two hours a day using digital devices—with no screen time for children under two.
But not all eye doctors have noticed an increase in problems in children. Dr. David Hunter, from Children’s Hospital Boston, has not seen an increase in his practice. “While it is possible to develop fatigue looking at screens for a long period of time, there’s certainly no proof that it actually causes any damage（伤害）to the eyes.” he says.
Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Dr. Bonilla-Warford thinks using computers causes nearsightedness.

B．People keep their eyes protected against drying by blinking normally.

C．Children under two can watch TV for less than two hours a day.

D．Dr. David Hunter says headache causes an increase in eye problems.

What does the underlined word “fatigue” mean?

A．Interest.

B．Ability.

C．Tiredness.

D．Difficulty.

What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Looking at Screen: Two Hours or More

B．How Can Children Use Their Eyes Properly

C．Using Digital Devices: Advantages and Disadvantages

D．How Much Screen Time Is Too Much for Children