"I have no special talent.I'm only passionately curious. " This famous quote from Albert Einstein might tell the reason for his success.When Newton discovered gravity，and when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb，their curiosity was greatly satisfied.If they hadn't been curious，what a loss for humans!
There is a common truth that intellectual curiosity （求知欲）contributes to school performance more than intelligence.Some studies also show there are benefits of curiosity in improving the long ﹣ term level of learning and memory，and a lot of positive results are connected with curiosity.
It has been known that both animals and humans are willing to take a risk to satisfy their curiosity despite knowing that the result will remain unchanged.Despite there being different views on the reason for curiosity，most experts reach an agreement that like the way the stomach looks for food，our brain looks for knowledge.People and animals are eager to know things because getting that information means a reward.
An interesting thing is that our brain will release a pleasure﹣related chemical when it has been given new information ，making seeking information much like eating — another pleasant activity.Researchers newly found that increasing the release of the chemical greatly increased the curiosity in animals.However，how exactly the chemical plays a role still remains a mystery.
Considering the present level of research on curiosity and the driving force of curiosity，including scientific curiosity，more research should be carried on in this field.It's safe to say that curiosity itself will help uncover curiosity.And remember even though the idiom says "Curiosity kills the cat"，it ends with satisfaction bringing it back.
（1）What do the examples mentioned in Paragraph 1 intend to tell us？
A.The importance of being curious.
B.The advice from successful people.
C.The reason why humans keep curious.
D.The relationship between curiosity and efforts.
（2）What can we learn about intellectual curiosity from Paragraph 2？
A.It often requires long﹣term training.
B.It helps people develop a positive lifestyle.
C.Students with it learn better than those smart ones.
D.Students born smart often have stronger intellectual curiosity.
（3）Which of the following ideas is generally accepted about curiosity？
A.Human curiosity comes when they want to change results.
B.It is natural and common among humans and animals.
C.It is often related to some adventurous activities.
D.Animals' curiosity appears with hunger.
（4）What does the author mean in the last paragraph？
A.Curiosity takes many different forms.
B.People may make mistakes because of strong curiosity.
C.Curiosity makes people dissatisfied with their present situations.
D.People should do more research on curiosity with some curiosity.
（5）Which of the following is TRUE about the passage？
A.It's safe to say that curiosity itself won't help uncover curiosity.
B.People shouldn't have any curiosity.
C.Intellectual curiosity contributes to school performance less than intelligence.
D.Increasing the release of the chemical greatly increased the curiosity in animals.
In Britain，Boxing Day is usually celebrated on December 26th（61） This means it's not a working day in the whole of Britain．When Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday，the following Monday is the public holiday．
（62） One of the thoughts is that during the Middle Ages，when great sailing ships were setting off to discover new land，a Christmas Box was placed by a priest（神父） on each ship．Those sailors who wanted a safe return would drop money into the box．（63）
One more thought is about the"Alms Box"placed in every church on Christmas Day．Worshippers （做礼拜的人）put gifts for the poor into it．These boxes were always opened the day after Christmas．（64） Today，many businesses，organizations and families try to keep the traditional spirit of Boxing Day alive by giving away money to Food Banks，providing gifts for the poor，or helping families in need． （65）
A．That is why that day became known as Boxing Day．
B．It was sealed up （密封） and kept on board until the ship came home safely．
C．Like Christmas Day，Boxing Day is a public holiday．
D．Besides，spending time with family and shopping are necessary activities on Boxing Day now．
E．The exact origin （起源） of the holiday is unclear．
"Without music，life would be a mistake，"famous German philosopher（哲学家） Friendrich Nietzsche said over a century ago．Music is a big part of our lives．But in recent years，some US schools have cut music classes to control budgets（预算）．
For example，Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired（解雇）over 1，000 teachers．Among them，10 percent of the teachers taught art or music，according to The Washington Times．In fact，this is not just a problem in the US．In other countries，such as China and the UK，music classes are not thought to be as important as ones like science，math and history．That's partly because music is not seen as a very important life skill，and it isn't tested．Many students are busy with schoolwork，so parents and students choose to focus on subjects that are tested more often．
However，learning music is beneficial（有益的）in many ways．
When playing music，you need different abilities to work together．It is not as simple as it looks，according to Kenneth Guilmartin of Music Together，an early childhood music development program．For example，when playing the piano，people see music notes and decode（解码）them in their brains．They also use their fingers to make sounds．You need to deal with all these things at the same time．
Music has a special connection with science as well．You can see that many scientists are good at playing music：Einstein played the violin，and German physicist Max Planck was talented in playing the piano．
（1）Some schools in the US cut music classes，because ．
| A． |
students in the US weren't interested in music |
| B． |
they were too difficult to learn |
| C． |
there weren't enough music teachers in the US |
| D． |
the schools wanted to control budgets |
（2）In Paragraph 2，what does the underlined word"them"refer to（指代）？
| A． |
Public schools． |
| B． |
Fired teachers． |
| C． |
Parents in Chicago． |
| D． |
Students in Chicago． |
（3）What's the main idea of Paragraph 4？
| A． |
Different abilities are needed to work together while we are playing music． |
| B． |
Playing the piano needs people to use fingers to make sounds． |
| C． |
Decoding music notes is needed while we are playing music． |
| D． |
Playing the piano needs people to see music notes． |
（4）How many scientists who are good at playing music are mentioned in this passage？
| A． |
One． |
| B． |
Two． |
| C． |
Three． |
| D． |
Four． |
（5）What's the writer's opinion according to this passage？
| A． |
Music is as simple as it looks． |
| B． |
Music classes should be cut in some schools． |
| C． |
Music is a big part of our lives． |
| D． |
Music isn't a very important life skill for us． |
We moved away from my grandmother when I was eight years old．I missed her a lot．I was her favorite granddaughter and she was my favorite grandma．
Two years later my mother and father separated and soon divorced．I felt as if my world was falling apart．I lived with my mother for a time，next door to my grandma and grandpa in an apartment while my father was away during World WarⅡ．
Grandma never had much in the way of money or material things．But it was the little things she gave me that let me feel warm，like letting me dip my fingers in the sugar bowl，letting me sip the coffee from her cup or allowing me to sit on the table as I had meals．
Though she didn't have much，she did something for my brother and me．I will always remember she saved her coins in a glass jar．I thought my grandma could have used these coins herself，but she saved them to give us when we came to visit her．
I don't remember how much we collected on our visits，nor was the amount（数目）important．It was the idea that she remembered us，and cared about us when we were away from her．
51．What happened to the writer when she was eight years old？
| A． |
She moved away from her grandma． |
| B． |
She moved away from her parents． |
| C． |
She lived with her grandparents． |
| D． |
She lived with her aunt． |
52．What does the underlined word"divorced"mean in Chinese in Paragraph 2？
| A． |
和好 |
| B． |
打架 |
| C． |
离婚 |
| D． |
生气 |
53．The writer's grandma allowed her to do many things．Which of the following is not mentioned？
| A． |
The writer could dip her fingers in the sugar bowl． |
| B． |
The writer was allowed to sip the coffee from her grandma's cup． |
| C． |
The writer could sit on the table while having meals． |
| D． |
The writer was allowed to collect coins in a glass jar． |
54．For whom did the writer's grandma save her coins？
| A． |
For her son． |
| B． |
For her grandchildren． |
| C． |
For the poor． |
| D． |
For herself． |
55．What can we learn from the passage？
| A． |
The writer disliked her childhood． |
| B． |
The writer complained about her parents． |
| C． |
The writer missed her grandma so much． |
| D． |
The writer wanted to have her grandma's money． |
There are five exchange students in Zhao Hua's class．Here is some information about them．
|
Name |
Nationality |
Date of birth |
Hobby |
Dream |
|
Maria |
Canada |
Sep.2nd |
Piano Basketball |
Teacher |
|
Tim |
France |
Nov.3rd |
Tennis Drawing |
Pilot |
|
Katie |
America |
Oct.10th |
Reading Swimming |
Engineer |
|
Paul |
Germany |
Dec.25th |
Dancing Soccer |
Scientist |
|
James |
Australia |
Sep.17th |
Drawing Volleyball |
Doctor |
（1）When can Zhao Hua have a birthday party for Maria and James？
| A． |
In November． |
| B． |
In September． |
| C． |
In December． |
| D． |
In October． |
（2）Where does Paul come from？
| A． |
Australia． |
| B． |
France． |
| C． |
Canada． |
| D． |
Germany． |
（3）If Zhao Hua wants to learn French，who can help her？
| A． |
Tim． |
| B． |
Maria． |
| C． |
James． |
| D． |
Katie． |
（4）What does Katie want to be？
| A． |
A teacher． |
| B． |
A pilot． |
| C． |
An engineer． |
| D． |
A doctor． |
（5）What do all of them like？
| A． |
Sports． |
| B． |
Music． |
| C． |
Art． |
| D． |
Reading． |
There is a popular belief that goldfish only have a three﹣second memory．But a 15﹣year﹣old schoolboy from Adelaide has just finished an experiment（实验） to tell us that it is not true．He shows everybody that the goldfish is smarter than we think．
"I don't believe that they had a three﹣second memory because animals need their memory，so they build up over time a knowledge of where the food is，"said Roy Stokes，a student at the Australian Science and Mathematics School．
He did the experiment in small tank（鱼缸） of goldfish．"I decided to get a bit of red Logo and just feed them next to that．Every day I'd put it in and spread food around it．"He said．
"At first they were a bit scared of it，but by the end of the three weeks，they were actually almost coming before I put the food in．"
After leaving the fish alone for a week，Rory placed the red Logo block in the tank again．
"They remembered perfectly well，"he said．
"They actually had a time faster than the average of the three feeds before I left．"
The goldfish showed that not only could they store information，they also had the ability to get it back as a later date．
Culum Brown，a research fellow at Sydney's Macquarie University，has studied fish behavior for more than ten years．
He says his studies of Australian native fish show fish were intelligent creatures that know how to avoid enemies and catch food like any other animal．
"The thing that I really liked about Rory's experiment is he not only got that classical conditioning going but the fact that he could get them next just to that specific coloured market．I thought it was really good．"He said．
36．Rory began his research by ．
| A． |
discussing with his classmates |
| B． |
making friends with goldfish |
| C． |
asking his teacher for advice |
| D． |
questioning a popular belief |
37．Rory put a red Logo in the tank to ．
| A． |
connect food with the color |
| B． |
make the tank nicer to look at |
| C． |
feed the fish at the same place |
| D． |
give the fish something to play with |
38．What's the right order of Rory's experiment？
|
a．find a tank of goldfish b．feed the fish next to the Logo c．leave the goldfish alone for a week |
d．take out the Logo e．put a red Logo into the tank f．put the Logo back into the tank |
| A． |
adbecf B aebdcf |
B． |
dabefc |
C． |
adebcf |
39．What do the last three paragraphs tell us？
| A． |
Rory's research was highly praised by experienced experts． |
| B． |
Rory's experiment failed to meet the scientific standard． |
| C． |
Many scientists had already done the experiment before． |
| D． |
Fish are the cleverest animal in Australia． |
40．What can we learn from the story？
| A． |
Fish can become smarter with the help of red color． |
| B． |
What everybody believes is not necessarily true． |
| C． |
Scientists should learn from middle school students． |
| D． |
Young people are generally smarter than aged ones． |