It’s puzzling, isn’t it? No matter where you try to tickle（使人发痒）yourself, even on the soles（脚底） of your feet or under your arms, you just can’t.
To understand why, you need to know more about how your brain works. One of its main tasks is to try to make good guesses about what’s going to happen next. While you’re busy getting on with your life, walking downstairs or eating your breakfast, parts of your brain are always trying to predict the future.
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle? At first, it took a lot of concentration to keep the handlebars steady and push the pedals（踏板）. But after a while, cycling became easy. Now you’re not aware of the movements you make to keep the bike going. From experience, your brain knows exactly what to expect so your body rides the bike automatically. Your brain is predicting all the movements you need to make.
You only have to think consciously about cycling if something changes---like if there’s a strong wind or you get a flat tyre. When something unexpected happens like this, your brain is forced to change its predictions about what will happen next. If it does its job well, you’ll adjust to the strong wind, leaning your body so you don’t fall.
Why is it so important for our brains to predict what will happen next? It helps us make fewer mistakes and can even save our lives. For example, when a chief fireman sees a fire, he immediately makes decisions about how best to position his men. His past experiences help him foresee what might happen and choose the best plan for fighting the fire. His brain can instantly predict how different plans would work out, and he can rule out any bad or dangerous plans without putting his men at risk in real life.
So how does all this answer your question about tickling? Because your brain is always predicting your own actions, and how your body will feel as a result, you cannot tickle yourself. Other people can tickle you because they can surprise you. You can’t predict what their tickling actions will be.What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How Does the Brain work? |
| B．Why Can’t I Tickle Myself? |
| C．The importance of Prediction |
| D．The Importance of Our Brains |
Our brains cannot predict what will happen when we______.
| A．walk down the stairs |
| B．eat our breakfast |
| C．suddenly lose our balance and fall |
| D．ride a bike |
The phrase “rule out” in Paragraph 4 means______.
| A．decide that something is not suitable | B．think about |
| C．act according to the rules | D．expect |
The passage is probably taken from______.
| A．a scientific report for experts |
| B．a textbook for medical students |
| C．a book for children |
| D．a research paper for doctors |
Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England. Her father was a rich sugar businessman at the time. Because her parents thought boys and girls should be equal, Elizabeth received the same education as her brothers.
In 1832, her father’s business was destroyed by fire, so her family moved to New York City. But her father’s business there failed. Then in 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after, her father died. After her father’s death, Elizabeth, at the age of 16, had to go to work.
When she was 24, she visited her dying friend Mary. Her friend said, “You’re young and strong, you should become a doctor.” That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. But she knew this was what she was going to do.
After several rejections from medical schools, she finally was accepted by Geneva Medical College. By studying hard, she graduated successfully in 1849.
After graduating from medical school, she went to Paris to learn more about medicine. She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
When she returned to America in 1851, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. In 1857, Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides, she also set up the first medical school for women in 1868, where she taught the women students about disease prevention. It was the first time that the idea of preventing disease was taught in a medical school.
Elizabeth Blackwell started the British National Health Society in 1871, which helped people learn how to stay healthy. In 1889, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States. Most importantly, she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.
Elizabeth Blackwell died on May 3, 1910, when she was 89.She opened a world of chances for women. She always fought for what was right in all her life. In 1949 the Blackwell medal was established. It’s given to women who have excellent achievements in the field of medicine. She’ll always be remembered as a great woman. According to the passage, Elizabeth Blackwell ________.
| A．received bad education in her childhood |
| B．spent a happy and lucky childhood |
| C．moved to America with her family at eleven |
| D．decided to be a doctor due to her father’s death |
Elizabeth Blackwell could not become a surgeon because ________.
| A．she was a woman |
| B．she had a serious eye problem |
| C．she went to Paris for further education |
| D．she didn’t go to medical school |
Elizabeth Blackwell spent most of her life in ________.
| A．the U.S. | B．Paris | C．England | D．Geneva |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE about Elizabeth Blackwell?
| A．She built the first hospital for women and children with others. |
| B．She became the first woman doctor in the U.S. |
| C．She set up the first medical school for women in the world. |
| D．She built a medal for women with excellent achievements in medicine. |
We live in a very competitive world. Everybody seems to be competing with someone at some level. Each week we spend hours playing or watching others compete in sporting activities all over the world. We cannot help being impressed by the level of excellence that these people achieve.
In sport and business, competition encourages excellence in performance. Where there is no competition, improvement in performance is less likely. Some level of competition is a have-to in all aspects of life.
The following story makes this point.
As two friends are hiking in the forest they come across a huge, ferocious and obviously hungry bear. Its next meal has just come into sight, and they are it! The first friend calculates that the bear will catch them in 27.3 seconds. At that point, she panics, realizing there is no escape. She faces her friend, with the fear of death in her eyes. To her amazement, she observes that her friend is not scared at all. On the contrary, her friend is quickly but calmly taking off her hiking boots and putting on running shoes. “What do you think you’re doing?” the first hiker says to her companion. “You’ll never be able to run faster than that bear”. “That’s true,” says the companion, “but all I have to do is escape, faster than you.”
We all compete when the motivation is strong enough. However, competition is not the real purpose of life. Fulfilling the measure of our creation can only be achieved individually.
Most of time, we are not in competition with any other person, so we do not have to compare ourselves with others. There is only one person that can fulfill our role and that is us. This means that others cannot beat us to the finish line because there is no race. This is not to say that others do not have a similar role to us, but it is never the same. This is important to understand if we are going to enjoy life. Every human being is unique and cannot be cloned. In this, I am not referring to the body, only to the spirit, soul, or the essence of a person.The first four paragraphs tell us that competition.
| A．is necessary though harmful | B．only exists in sports and business |
| C．is a fight against oneself | D．is unavoidable and beneficial |
Why is the story of two friends told in the passage?
| A．To advise friends to be loyal even in competition. |
| B．To expose the weak side of friendship when tested. |
| C．To support the author’s own argument on competition. |
| D．To persuade people to beat others, even friends. |
From the last two paragraphs we learn that.
| A．there is more to life than just competition |
| B．we don’t have to compete since we are all different |
| C．we have to beat others in order to survive |
| D．competition plays an important role in social development |
As a whole the passage advises the readers to.
| A．realize we are living in a world of competition |
| B．face competition in a balanced state of mind |
| C．have a strong sense of being a possible winner |
| D．value friendship however fierce competition may be |
One of the speaking rules you need to know might sound strange to most ESL (English as a second language) students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar.
Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small part of English speakers know more than 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ESL students know more grammar than native speakers. I can confidently say this with experience. I am a native English speaker, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching English for more than 10 years. However, many of my students know more details about English grammar than I do. When they sometimes ask me about grammar, I can easily look up the definition(定义) and apply it, but I can’t tell them the answer off the top of my head.
I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively.
Do you want to be able to recite the definition of a causative verb, or do you want to be able to speak English fluently?According to the author, what opinion do most ESL students hold?
| A．Grammar matters a lot only in speaking. |
| B．Grammar doesn’t matter much in speaking. |
| C．Grammar is very important in English learning. |
| D．Grammar is not important in English learning. |
What is the author?
| A．An ESL student. | B．A teacher teaching English natives. |
| C．A native English student. | D．A native English teacher. |
The underlined part “off the top of my head” means .
| A．on purpose | B．without consideration |
| C．after thinking | D．with difficulty |
Which of the following titles best suits the text?
| A．Fluency or Grammar? | B．Grammar Counts! |
| C．Exams or No Exams? | D．No More Grammar! |
A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away. That’s the finding of a study of Dutchmen in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed at least an ounce of salt water fish per day compared to those who never ate fish.
The Dutch research is one of three human studies that give strong scientific support to the long-held belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart. Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year. But previous research has shown that the level of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do. There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption average more than 3 ounces.
For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish. At the start of the study, average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day, with more men eating lean fish than fatty fish.
During the next two decades, 78 of the men died from heart disease. The fewest deaths were among the group who regularly ate fish, even at levels far lower than those of the Japanese or Eskimos. This relationship was true regardless of other factors such as age, high blood pressure, or blood cholesterol levels.The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the high incidence of heart disease in some countries |
| B．the changes in people’s diet |
| C．the daily fish consumption of people in different culture |
| D．the effect of fish eating on people’s health |
We can infer from the passage that there are fewer heart disease deaths ________.
| A．in the countries of the yellow-skin race |
| B．in the countries with high consumption of fish |
| C．in the countries with good production of fish |
| D．in highly-developed countries |
The underlined part “This relationship” may refer to the connection between ________ and the level of heart disease.
| A．regular fish-eating | B．the kind of fish eaten |
| C．the amount of fish eaten | D．people of different areas |
In which section of a newspaper can we read this passage?
| A．Ads. | B．Movies. | C．Health and Diet. | D．Briefs. |
As we get older, most of us worry about grey hair, wrinkles and maintaining a youthful body. But people often don’t realize the voice needs looking after. Here, Mr. Rubin, a voice expert, reveals how to keep your voice youthful.
Drink more fluid and avoid spicy food
You need water for the vocal cords(声带) to vibrate(振动) well. The body must be kept hydrated enough to make the vocal cords operate well. Drinking 1.5 liters of water a day at intervals of 15 minutes is very important. Mr. Rubin advises avoiding foods with an annoying effect on the stomach, such as onions, chili, fizzy drinks and chocolate.
Rest the throat and talk regularly
The vocal cords can be scared if you use your voice during a bad cough. If you have a case of laryngitis(喉炎) with a cold, you should rest your voice for a day or two, and seek medical advice.
Simply staying sociable and using your voice is very important. “As older people get less mobile, they can become socially isolated and speak less.” says Mr. Rubin. “The elderly need to communicate with people more. By using the vocal cords, they enable the ageing process to slow down. ”
Improve your posture
Good posture is essential to keeping the voice young, so we’d better stand properly. Exercise helps you take deeper breaths as it means there is better airflow through the voice box, producing a stronger tone.
Sing in the shower
This is one of the best ways to preserve your voice, as it keeps the larynx muscles strong while the steam lubricates(使润滑) the voice box. “Singing is gymnastics for the voice,” says Mr. Rubin. Joining a choir is one of the best ways to preserve a youthful tone.Mr. Rubin gives us advice on ________.
| A．ways to keep us from aging |
| B．ways to talk with other people |
| C．ways to keep our voice youthful |
| D．prevention of diseases caused by talking too much |
Which of the following statements is TRUE in the opinion of Mr. Rubin?
| A．We should stand properly to keep our voice youthful. |
| B．Professional singers’ voices tend to age quickly. |
| C．The steam can do great harm to the voice. |
| D．Taking more onions can keep us healthy. |
To protect the voice, the old people should.
| A．get less mobile | B．communicate with others more |
| C．avoid using the voice | D．lie in bed more |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Most people have realized the importance of protecting voice. |
| B．It’s hard to keep the vocal cords strong through exercise. |
| C．Singing in the shower is among the best ways to keep our voice youthful. |
| D．Shouting now and then benefits our vocal cords. |