Sooner or later, most students are to take some form of English examinations. Often the more successful students are better prepared. However, sometimes students who do well have better test taking skills. These abilities really have nothing to do with understanding English better. They are skills that make taking the test easier, and therefore provide better results.
Here are some very important—and often ignored—guidelines to taking a test successfully.
Do not insist on completing each question before going to the next. This is extremely important. Remember one question may only be worth one point! You will become nervous when you fail to find out its answer, making you lose your concentration and leading to worse results. However, answering the questions you are sure you know results in your being more relaxed and feeling more confident.
Go through the test a second time working out the answers to more difficult questions. Sometimes questions asked are answered in later questions asking for different things.
Usually(but not always) a strong first impulse(冲动) means we know the answer and we don’t really have to think about it too much. Going back to think about it usually makes you unsure and often causes a mistake. This is very common, so be very careful!
If you don’t know the answer, write something. If you are answering a 4 possibility multiple choice question you will still have a 25% chance of being correct!
Taking a test is as much for you as is for your teacher, so never cheat. If you cheat, you don’t help yourself in the long run.In the first paragraph, the writer stresses the importance of ______.
| A．better preparations for exams. |
| B．better understanding of English. |
| C．better skills at taking exams. |
| D．better results of taking exams. |
When taking an exam, you are advised ______.
| A．to first answer the questions which are easier to you. |
| B．to depend on your first impulse to answer the questions. |
| C．to search the test paper for all the answers to the questions. |
| D．to give up the questions whose answers you don’t know. |
It is common that many students______.
| A．pay much attention to their testing skills. |
| B．often give up a difficult test halfway. |
| C．often get higher results by cheating. |
| D．don’t believe in their first impulse. |
What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Effective Studying Methods. |
| B．Effective Test Taking Skills. |
| C．Getting Better Exam Results. |
| D．Being Successful Students. |
Vincent Van Gogh，for whom color was the main symbol of expression，was born in Groot-Zundert，Holland in 1853.He was brought up in a cultured family. Vincent was highly emotional and wasn’t self-confident. Between 1860 and 1880，when he finally decided to become an artist，Van Gogh had two unhappy love stories and worked unsuccessfully in Belgium. He remained there to study art，and decided to give happiness by creating beauty. Of the works of his early Dutch period，the most famous is “The Potato Eaters”.
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo ，the manager of Goupil’s gallery. In Paris，Van Gogh studied with Cormon ，later met Pissarro，Monet，and Gauguin，and began to lighten his very dark palette(调色板).His nervousness made him a difficult person to get along with and night-long discussions and painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help set up a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with bad results. Near the end of 1888,Van Gogh ran after Gauguin with an open razor(剃须刀),was stopped by him，but ended up cutting a part of his own ear off. It led Gauguin to finally leave Arles.
In the May of 1890，Van Gogh seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the eye Dr Gachet. Two months later he was dead，having shot himself “for the good of all”. During his life he had sold one painting. Van Gogh’s finest works were produced in less than three years. Vincent Van Gogh expressed himself in his works mainly _______.
| A．by shape |
| B．by color |
| C．with brush lines |
| D．with words |
Before Vincent Van Gogh started to learn art_______.
| A．he did a good job |
| B．he was popular with the other artists |
| C．he lived a frustrating life |
| D．he had no interest in art |
The underlined word “undermined” in the second paragraph could be replaced by “_______”.
| A．affected |
| B．protected |
| C．tested |
| D．changed |
Why didn’t Gauguin want to work with Van Gogh any longer?
| A．Gauguin hated to be a teacher. |
| B．Van Gogh didn’t like him at all. |
| C．Gauguin cut off a part of Van Gogh’s ear. |
| D．Something was wrong with Van Gogh’s mind. |
Which of the following about Van Gogh is TRUE?
| A．He was a confident boy when he was young. |
| B．He was born in Belgium and once worked in Holland. |
| C．He lost a part of his ear at the age of 35. |
| D．He had never sold any paintings during his life. |
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| A．A piece of exercise equipment |
| B．A club membership card |
| C．A commercial health club |
| D．An electric wheelchair |
How many people bought ROM after trying it out?
| A．92% |
| B．88% |
| C．97% |
| D．90% |
One setting point of ROM is that ____
| A．it makes full body exercise possible in 4 minutes |
| B．it can kill back and shoulder pains in 10 minutes |
| C．it needs no repair in the first 20years |
| D．it is sold on a 3-month trial basis |
The advertisement is made believable by ___
| A．telling stories |
| B．using figures |
| C．making comparisons |
| D．asking questions |
The Book Of Life
So far, scientists have named about 1. 8 million living species(物种), and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animal, and other living things covering the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by.
A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international term of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia(百科全书) of Life (EoL). The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.
To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases(数据库)that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to help. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it.
As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school. Projects, The site will feature(以……为特色) special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods. Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledge.
It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describes and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new fool will speed up that process.The Web based EoL aims to ___
| A．fine out what covers the earth |
| B．list all living things on Earth |
| C．work out the number of birds |
| D．save the existing plants |
One characteristic of the EoL is that ____
| A．it is run by school students |
| B．it focuses on different types of grass |
| C．it provides different levels of information |
| D．it allows non-scientists to review its data |
In the last paragraph,” that process”means ___
| A．analyzing species |
| B．creating a new tool |
| C．collecting data |
| D．describing species |
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
| A．To introduce Stephanie to her. |
| B．To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
| C．To put the materials back in the yard. |
| D．To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
| A．was a born artist |
| B．always caused trouble |
| C．was a problem solver |
| D．worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the rainbow in the sky |
| B．the stripes on the pavement |
| C．something imaginative and fun |
| D．important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
| A．encourage children to paint |
| B．value friendship among children |
| C．discover the hidden talent in children |
| D．protect rather than destroy children’s dreams |
How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings
Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical（经验的，实证的） basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.
Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room's ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.
In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant's ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.
Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.
Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim（暗淡的） light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.
So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. "We have a very limited number of studies, so we're almost looking at the problem through a straw（吸管）," architect David Allison says. "How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That's what we're all struggling with." What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?
| A．Light. |
| B．Ceilings. |
| C．Windows. |
| D．Furniture. |
The passage tells us that ______.
| A．the shape of furniture may affect people's feelings |
| B．lower ceilings may help improve students' creativity |
| C．children in a dim classroom may improve their grades |
| D．students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that ______.
| A．the problem is not approached step by step |
| B．the researches so far have faults in themselves |
| C．the problem is too difficult for researchers to detect |
| D．research in this area is not enough to make generalized patterns |
Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?
 |
CP: Central PointP: Point
SP: Sub-point（次要点）C: Conclusion