Being able to multitask-- doing several things at the same time--is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle a larger number of electronic products as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a large amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people give so much attention to their own worlds, they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.
Multitasking also has an effect on young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinions of the effects of modern gadgets (器具) on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive (肯定的) answer. However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers (雇主) feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.What does the underlined word "juggle" most probably mean?
| A．Want to buy. |
| B．Use at the same time. |
| C．Take the place of. |
| D．Search information from. |
In Paragraph 3, the author points out that ________.
| A．family members do not greet each other |
| B．family members do not eat at the family table |
| C．young people get on well with their families |
| D．young people hardly communicate with their family members |
What's the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Young people must learn skills for future jobs. |
| B．Young people benefit (获益) a lot from modern gadgets. |
| C．Multitasking is an important skill to young people. |
| D．Multitasking influences young people's development seriously. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Young people think multitasking is good for their study and work. |
| B．Employers consider it unnecessary for young people to be taught all over again. |
| C．Educators feel that young people don't need to improve their study skills. |
| D．People from the world of education believe multitasking has a good effect on children's later study skills. |
The author develops (阐述) the passage mainly by ________.
| A．providing special examples |
| B．following the natural time order |
| C．giving out a cause and analyzing (分析) its effects |
| D．comparing opinions from different worlds |
Everybody makes decisions in daily life. They can be as important as what you will do in the future or as simple as what you will eat for breakfast. Any decision could be the turning point of your life.
I made an important decision when I was in Junior 3.
Before I made that decision I was one of the boys who tried too hard to act as an adult. I didn’t know that only kids want to show themselves as adults.
I didn’t listen to my parents and teachers, and my grades became poor. Then came the high school entrance exam.
At the turning point of my life, my mom wanted to have a conversation with me. I wanted to turn it down but when I looked at her eyes, I felt I couldn’t refuse. Instead of asking me to study hard, to my surprise, Mom just asked what I wanted to do in the future. Without thinking too much, I just said I would like to study hard.
Mom smiled and asked again: “I asked: what do you WANT to do?”
I never seriously thought about the question. So, I kept silent.
“Whether you want to go on studying or enter the society,” she went on, “it is your own decision. Your life ought to be decided by you, not by anyone else, including me. ” After saying that, she had tears in her eyes.
For the first time in my life I was asked to make my own decision. I sat in my chair and thought about myself, my life and what kind of person I wanted to become.
It took me what seemed to be ages to make the biggest decision so far in my life—I wanted to be a man who makes a difference in the world. To achieve that, I needed to study hard.
The path to my future became clear to me. I didn’t act rebelliously(叛逆地) any more. With passion (激情) in my heart, I studied hard.
Now, I’m 17 and I’m in one of the best schools in my city, in one of the best classes at the school and I am one of the best students in the class.
Thanks to that decision, I have become what I am today.When did the writer make the important decision?
| A．After he was 17 years old. |
| B．After he was in one of the best classes. |
| C．When he was a pupil. |
| D．When he was studying in Junior 3. |
What was the writer like before the decision?
| A．His grades became poor. |
| B．He tried too hard not to act as an adult. |
| C．He was one of the top students in his class. |
| D．He did what his teachers and his parents asked him to do. |
Why did the writer make the decision?
| A．Because his teacher talked with him patiently. |
| B．Because he didn’t want to act rebelliously any more. |
| C．Because his mother asked him to study hard as usual. |
| D．Because his father asked him to think about his future by himself. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The writer made the decision that he should work hard. |
| B．It took the writer several years to make the decision. |
| C．After hearing his mother’s words, the writer had tears in his eyes. |
| D．At the turning point of his life, the writer wanted to have a conversation with his mother |
Is there intelligent (有智力的) life on other planets? For years, scientists said “no.” or “we don’t know.” But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers(天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we sill soon contact these beings(人；生物).
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. “This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life,” say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. “Tools like the Hubble Telescope(哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not,” says Shostak. “It’s a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals(信号). In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don’t have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.”Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are _____.
| A．astronomers | B．farmers |
| C．singers | D．drivers |
What is the best title for Paragraph 2?
| A．The Age and Size of Earth |
| B．Our Galaxy: The Milky Way |
| C．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist |
| D．Earth: The Only Planet with Intelligent Life |
Why was it hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe in the past?
| A．There were not any smaller planets. |
| B．There were not any powerful telescopes. |
| C．The astronomers were not interested in them. |
| D．The Milky Way didn’t exist at that time, |
Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?
| A．They’re afraid of us. |
| B．It’s a long way away. |
| C．They don’t want to see us. |
| D．They don’t know how to use radio signals. |
A man had a little dog, and he was very fond of it. He would pat its head, and take it on his knee, and talk to it. Then he would give it little bits of food from his own plate. A donkey looked in at the window and saw the man and the dog. "Why does he not make a pet of me?" said the donkey. "It is not fair. I work hard, and the dog only wags its tail, and barks, and jumps on its master's knee. It is not fair."
Then the donkey said to himself, "If I do what the dog does, he may make a pet of me." So the donkey ran into the room. It brayed as loudly as it could. It wagged its tail so hard that it knocked over a jar on the table. Then it tried to jump on to its master's knee. The master thought the donkey was mad, and he shouted, "Help! Help!" Men came running in with sticks, and they beat the donkey till it ran out of the house, and they drove it back to the field.
"I only did what the dog does," said the donkey," and yet they make a pet of the dog, and they beat me with sticks. It is not fair."The man liked the dog. He did a lot except __________.
| A．patting the dog’s head | B．sleeping with the dog |
| C．talking to the dog | D．taking the dog on his knee |
Which is not the reason why the man treated the dog well?
| A．It barked |
| B．It worked hard. |
| C．It jumped on the master’s knee |
| D．It wagged its tail |
What happened to the donkey at last?
| A．The donkey jumped onto the man’s knees. |
| B．The man liked it as the dog. |
| C．The donkey was driven back to the field. |
| D．The men beat it to death. |
任务型阅读根据短文内容完成表格中所缺信息，在答题卷上相应的横线上填写答案，每空限填一个单词。
Whenever we meet with difficulty or failure, teachers, parents or others often say to us or perhaps we say to ourselves, ―Never give up.
These can be encouraging words and words of determination. A person who believes in himself will keep trying to reach his goal no matter how many times he fails. In my opinion, the quality of determination to succeed is an important one to have. Therefore, I believe that we should never give up.
One reason is that if we give up too easily, we will rarely achieve anything. It is not unusual for us to fail in our first attempt at something new, so we should not feel disappointed and should try again. Besides, if we always give up when we fail, we will not be able to develop new skills and grow.
Another reason we should never give up is that we can learn from our mistakes so that we can not make the same ones. If we do not try again, the lesson we have learned is wasted. Finally, we should never give up because as we work to reach our goals, we develop confidence, and this confidence can help us succeed in other areas of our lives. If we never challenge ourselves, we will begin to doubt our abilities.
In short, it is important that we do not give up when working for our goals. Whether we succeed in the end or not, we will learn something, and what we learn will help us to become better and more confident. Furthermore, if we give up, we have no chance of attaining our goals any more, but if we keep making great efforts, there is always a chance that we will succeed one day.
| Possible meanings and the author’s opinions |
●The words——Never give up can ●A person who wants to succeed should have the quality. So we should never give up. |
| The |
●If we give up too easily, maybe we will achieve ●Always giving up means that we will not be able to make any progress. ●Never giving up will make us learn from the mistakes we’ve made before and learn the lesson so as not to make the same mistakes. ●To reach our goals and develop the confidence which can help us |
| Conclusion |
If you give up, you will have no |
A team of US psychologists(心理学家) have found that talking to another person for ten minutes a day helps with memory.
“Socializing(交际) is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual(智力的) performance,” Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a statement.
In one investigation, they analyzed data on 3610 people, aged 24 to 96.
They found that the higher their level of social interaction(交流), the better their cognitive(认知的) functioning. Social interaction includes getting together or having phone chats with relatives, friends and neighbors.
In another experiment, the researchers conducted laboratory tests on 76 college students, aged 18 to 21, to evaluate(评估) how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected the results of memory and mental performance tests.
The students were divided into three groups: the social interaction group had a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests; the intellectual activities group completed three tasks (including a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle) before the tests; and a control group(对照组) watched a 10-minute clip(电影片段) of the Seinfeld television show.
“We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes improved participants’ (参与者) intellectual performance as much as engaging in (从事) so-called ‘intellectual’ activities for the same amount of time,” Ybarra said.
The study was expected to be published in the February issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.What does the underlined word “boosting” in the second paragraph probably mean?
| A．Improving. | B．Reducing. |
| C．Preventing. | D．Training. |
Which is not included in social interaction?
| A．Having a talk with a neighbor. |
| B．Attending a birthday party. |
| C．Watching TV at home alone. |
| D．Calling your classmates. |
What’s the purpose of the experiment on 76 college students?
| A．To judge the effect of social interaction on memory and intelligence. |
| B．To find out what is real social interaction. |
| C．To learn how much time is needed for social interaction. |
| D．To show the function of people's cognition. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Intellectual exercises make your memory better. |
| B．Different people have different ways of communication. |
| C．Communicating with others keeps you healthy. |
| D．Social interaction makes you smart. |