Think about a time you went someplace that you had never been before. It seemed as if it was very and it took a really long time to get there. Then you noticed that th trip did not seem to take nearly as long, it was exactly the same distance. Scientists have studied these common observations. They have come to the that our feeling of how time passes is sometimes based on the of information we are dealing with. The more information we are getting, the more slowly time seems to pass.
On the way to a place, we are faced with unfamiliar sights, , or even smells. We may be reading directions, landmarks, or trying to find a（n） road sign. We are repeatedly processing the information we are .There may be others in the car asking. “Are we there yet?” In fact, the experiences the same things as the passengers.
On the return trip, we are somewhat familiar with the . Now much of the information is not to us. Our brain now processes the information more . We don’t have to take notice of a lot of what we see and hear. We know what to and we screen out the rest.
The process could be to the first and second days of school. On the first day is new and different and time seems to pass slowly. On the second day, you know what to , and your brain spends less time processing new information. , the second day of school usually seems to go forward at a more rapid pace. Thus, in a sense, time when our surroundings become more familiar.
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In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue skies. One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky 36 the sky looked like. Maybe he could make a little bird 37 out there. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my 38 , Perky flew off. The enormous（巨大的）, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue 39 and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all.
Kathy managed to 40 me. With fake optimism（乐观）, she even tried to reassure（安慰）me that Perky would find a new 41 . But I was far too clever to 42 that such a th
ing was possible.
Forty years later, I watched my own 43 growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the 44 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the 45 of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称）to 46 the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. 47 Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and 48 that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.
"The best thing 49 Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the 50 we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just 51 down and landed on my finger."
When I was finally able to 52 , we examined the amazing evidence（证据）. The dates, the locations and the pictures of the bird all 53 . It seems our two families had been54 long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were 55 ! Perky lived!"
A．what B．how C．which D．where
A．food B．nest C．friend D．family
A．joy B．horror C．disappointment D．satisfaction
A．pleasure B．sadness C．treasure D．sense
A．forgive B．comfort C．help D．delight
B．home C．master D．life
A．imagine B．suppose C．doubt D．believe
A．birds B．happiness C．worries D．children
A．parents B．birds C．interests D．games
A．first B．best C．last D．happiest
A．catch B．find C．buy D．have
A．Suddenly B．Fortunately C．Then D．However
A．announced B．said C．told D．hoped
A．in B．about C．of D．on
A．day B．place C．way D．story
A．floated B．slipped C．settled D．went
A．think B．speak C．interrupt D．explain
A．came up B．turned up C．turned out D．matched up
A．known B．fastened C．connected D．introduced
A．right B．wrong C．silly D．mad
I was walking down the road one day when my cellphone rang. I heard a little girl on the other end 36 ,“Dad, please come back soon. I miss you so much!” Because I just have a little 37 , I knew it was a wrong number. So I rudely 38 “you’ve dialed the wrong number!”and then 39 .
During the following days, I got the same call 40 .But I didn’t care much about it.
Then one day she contin
ually called me, 41 I didn’t answer. In the end, I answered the phone and heard a torpid(有气无力的) voice, “ Dad, please come back. I miss you so much! Dad , I m 42 so much pain! Mom said you were too busy to take 43 of me. But, Dad ,please 44 me again, OK?” The kind of 45 was difficult to reject. I made a loud kiss on the phone and heard the 46 voice say, “Thank you … Dad , I am so … happy…”
Shortly after this, I became 47 about who had been on the other end of my phone. So I called back, and a woman answered, “Sorry, sir. I am really sorry to have 48 you. My daughter has suffered from bone cancer 49 she was born. And her father … died in a(n) 50 last week. I 51 not tell her the news. Po
or baby. When she couldn’t 52 the painful chemotherapy(化疗), she would cry for her dad, who had always 53 her.
I really cou
ldn’t bear it, so I gave her a random(任意的)phone number …”
“How is your daughter now?” I couldn’t 54 to ask.
“She has 55 . You must have kissed her on the phone, because she went with a smile,” she said, “and I am glad that she gets rid of the pain and stays with her father forever.”
I couldn’t keep my tears back.
A．shout B．cry C．scream D．call.
A．money B．time C．son D．daughter
A．replied B．returned C．announced D．questioned
A．hung on B．held on C．held up D．hung up
A．from then on B．now and then C．more or less D．for the moment
A．even if B．as if C．in case D．now that
A．of B．on C．in D．at
A．charge B．control C．notice D．care
A．hug B．kiss C．love D．see
A．demand B．command C．request D．action.
A．sweet B．deep C．loud D．weak
A．curious B．interested C．content D．amazed
A．confused B．bothered C．displeased D．sought
A．until B．when C．while D．since
B．event C．accident D．affair
A．must B．dare C．need D．should
A．tolerate B．undertake C．calm D．master
A．encouraged B．persuaded C．excited D．delighted
A．stop B．help D．keep
A．recovered B．missed C．lost D．gone
I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be 36 Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d 37 ?” Just when I started to 38 that there would not be a Christmas that year, three women 39 at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of40 that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t 41 . Somebody had tho
ught 42 of me to bring me a gift.
Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my 43 Christmas there special and memorable, I 44 remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of 45 for as many children as I could possibly reach.
So I 46a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans(孤儿) at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies, 47 with a 
child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were 48 . Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts. I 49 them that they couldn’t open their presents 50 every child had come forward. Finally the 51 they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three . Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles 52 up the room. The 53 in the room was obvious, and 54 wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling—the feeling I knew 55 that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.
A．strength B．independence C．importance D．safety
A．kept up with B．caught up with C．came up with D．put up with
A．none B．few C．some D．each
A．fine B．special C．helpful D．normal
A．reminded B．guaranteed C．convinced D．promised
A．after B．until C．when D．since
A．chance B．gift C．moment D．reward
A．lit B．took C．burned D．cheered
A．atmosphere B．sympathy C．calmness D．joy
A．by B．till C．for D．from
Lucy complained to her father about her hard life. She wanted to 36 because she didn’t know how to______37___ her problems. She felt tired of fighting and fi
ghting. Once one ___38____ had been solved, another came.
Her father, a cook, took her into the ___39____. He poured water into three pans. After the water ___40____, in the first pan he put some carrots, the second some eggs, and in the __41____ some coffee. He waited without any 42 .
The girl closed her mouth and waited, 43 by what her father was doing. After about twenty minutes, her father44 the stove and took out the carrots and the eggs. Then the coffee was ____45___ into a cup.
Turning back to his daughter, he asked, “what do you 46 ?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she answered.
Her father suggested she 47 the carrots. She did, and felt the carrots were 48 . Then he asked her to take the eggs and 49 them. After peeling（剥）them, she felt that the eggs were hard. Lastly, he asked her t
o smell the __50____. She asked impatiently , “What’s the meaning of this, father?” He explained that51 had felt the same misfortune to be put into the __52___ water， but had reacted53 . The strong and hard carrots became soft and weak after a while in the boiling water. The easily ___54___eggs became hard after being cooked. Coffee was very unique --- it could change water.
“55 are you? ”asked her father. “When the difficulty knocks your door, what is your reaction? Are you carrots, eggs, or coffee?”
B．wear out C．catch up D．run out
A．win B．beat C．overcome D．defeat
A．matter B．business C．question D．problem
A．room B．dining room C．chicken D．kitchen
A．boils B．boiled C．boiling D．boil
A．first B．second C．three D．last
A．breath B．praises C．words D．complaints
A．pleased B．frightened C．disappointed D．puzzled
A．turned off B．turned up D．turned away
A．poured B．dropped C．slipped D．flown
A．mean B．see C．ate D．explain
A．touch B．eat C．observe D．keep
A．bad B．hard C．soft D．gentle
A．hit B．break C．beat D．destory
A．coffee B．carrot C．eggs D．water
A．nothing B．anything C．everything D．something
A．boils B．boiled C．boiling D．boil
A．differently B．certainly C．happily D．equally
A．broken B．boil C．cooked D．ate
A．How B．Who D．Where
We should show respect to everybody, 
especially our elders because they are ahead of us — in age, in wisdom and maturity, in experience and education. Our 36 have done a lot for us, directly or indirectly and most of us 37 everything to their kindness and love.
When we 38 them respect, whether it is by bowing to them, or 39 them with a smile, or offering them any help they need, it is one way of 40 our own love and gratitude to them. 41 , elders have also been through all the years you are 42 and know a little more about the world than you do.
It is 43 that you do not agree with the belief of your elders, but this is nothing new. All younger generation
s have always 44 with their e
lders and it is these differences that bring changes in human 45 . However much you disagree with them, give them credit for their 46 .
With changing times and 47 influences, youngsters no longer know what is interpreted as disrespect to elders. Youngsters should 48 express their views and if there are arguments, they should not 49 their voices.
If there is no space on sofas or chairs, child
ren will immediately 50 their places, and sit on the carpet. In buses and trains, youngsters are 51 to give up their places to older people. This is not a 52 of who has more rights. It is simply that those who are younger have the strength to bear 53 , or tolerate unpleasantness, so it is natural to show consideration to those who are older and perhaps at a 54 disadvantage.
When you do simple things as a mark of respect, elders become 55 that youngsters care for them, and they respond with affection and kindness.
A．youngsters B．elders C．parents D．juniors
A．devote B．owe C．pay D．contribute
A．show B．explain C．exhibit D．point
A．greeting B．receiving C．declaring D．showing
A．expressing B．describing C．sending D．suggesting
A．However B．Therefore C．Besides D．Though
A．experiencing with B．going through C．suffering from D．worrying out
A．maybe B．likely C．possible D．probably
A．quarreled B．dealt C．lived D．disagreed
A．community B．organization C．society D．public
A．experience B．reality C．emotion
A．cultural B．special C．environmental D．position
A．quietly B．slightly C．silently D．coldly
A．rise B．raise C．support D．force
A．give away B．get rid of C．give up D．send out
A．expected B．forced C．needed D．reminded
A．doubt B．question C．wonder D．challenge
A．suffering B．upset C．trouble D．discomfort
A．serious B．light C．heavy D．slight
A．aware B．alive C．knowing D．sensible