Barack Obama
In the past hundred years, the U.S. presidency has turned more and more to the left – not in policy, but in handedness. Barrack Obama is the latest to join a long list of left – handed presidents from the 20th century: James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Henry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all southpaws.
What makes lefties so electable? Some experts think left-handed people have a greater aptitude for language skills, which may help them craft the rhetoric necessary for political office. And as for the bout of recent left-handed presidents, some think it’s because teachers only recently stopped working to convert lefties to rightist at an early age.
Bill Gates
Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s society of southpaws. In fact, the Microsoft titan and philanthropist(巨头兼慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S. business moguls to be left-handed, including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner. But the club seems to be a guys-only fraternity — research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed colleagues, there is no similar advantage for women. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research floated the idea that left-handed men favor "divergent" thinking, a form of creativity in which the brain moves "from conventional knowledge into unexplored association." Maybe that’s what it takes to develop a net worth estimated at $ 57 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest — what with her estimated $ 2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them — but she also has the distinction of being a member of the left-handed club. Since men are more likely to be left-handed than women, that makes Oprah doubly impressive. She’s in good company: Other show-business ladies of the left – handed persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie
Marie Curie
Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed, but she was the matriarch of a whole family of accomplished, southpaw scientists. Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes, was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie, who was instrumental in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards. Historians believe their daughter, Irene, was also left-handed. Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her husband — who, you guessed it, was also left-handed.
59．The underlined word “southpaws” in the last sentence of Paragraph 1 means_______.
A．people coming from the south B．powerful presidents
C．people who use their left hand D．forceful speakers
60．What makes it so easy for lefties to be elected as presidents according to the passage?
A．Their great gift for foreign language.
B．Their great language skills to make speeches.
C．The need of left – hinders in the political office.
D．Teachers stopping to force them to use their right hand.
61．It can be implied that Bill Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Lou Gerstne_______.
A．have creative thinking B．have formed a special club.
C．earn more money than their wives D．are wealthy philanthropists
62．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “She is in good company” means “_______”.
A．she works in a very good company B．she has many good friends
C．she has got on well with others D．she is among many female lefties
You probably know you should say “ please” and “thank you ” at restaurants. You probably know the rules of a library. You know you should respect and be nice to your classmates. But do you have music manners?
Keep It Down! You have to notice the volumeof your music. You should not play your music so loud that everyone around you can hear it. Some people might even get angry. Usually, when you play the music loud on an MP3 player, other people can’t hear the words of the song. They just hear a loud sound. Not one wants to listen to this. Very loud music can also be bad for your ears, so even if you are alone when listening to our MP3 player, you shouldn’t have it turned up too high.
Take Them off! You need to know when to turn your MP3 player off and put it away. Libraries and schools don’t allow MP3 players. There are other places, like museums, that don’t have rules, but it would be rude to have your MP3 player on. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense to listen to your MP3 player at event. Why would you listen to music at a play, a movie or a sporting event? You would miss what is going on and others would wonder why you even came.
Take One Out! Once in a while it’s okay just to take out one earphone and not other. Imagine you are listening to your MP3 player when someone asks you the way. It would not be rude to take out one earphone, tell him the way, and put back the earphone and continue listening. You can also do this when you order food at a fast-food restaurant or when you answer the telephone and it’s not for you.
It’s Your Choice! There are times when you need to decide what is the best. For example, some people can listen to music on their MP3 Players when reading books, while others think it is disturbing. In cases like this, you need to do what seems right for you.The underlined word “volume” in Paragraph Two probably means .
A. the type of music
B. the amount of a sound
C. the length of a song We should turn down the music when we are alone because loud music .
A. is not enjoyable
B. makes us tired
C. hurts our earsIf we listen to our MP3 player at a play, .
A. the theater won’t allow it
B. we will miss part of the play
C. others won’t hear the play well We can take one earphone out when we .
A. show others the way
B. talk to fiends on the phone
C. watch a sporting event What can be the best title of this passage?
A. Music Lovers B. Music Manners C.MP3 Players
Dou Kou, a Chinese boy, is called “the youngest writer in the world”. He has written three books till now. Dou Kou was born in Jiangsu in 1994. When he was 7 months old, his parents started working in over 30 different cities, such as Xi’an and Shenzhen. This kind of life gave him things to think and write about. When he was 9 months old, he could speak and at the age of one, he could say five to six hundred words. At three, he could look up words in the dictionary. At four, his father taught him how to learn by himself. His parents like reading very much. So does he. At the age of 5, he began writing fairy tales. At the age of 6, he wrote a novel about his life in different cities with his parents. His fairy tales are all from his life. One day, he found many mice in the house. They only ate their food but also hurt his mother’s hand. So he thought, “If we give mice the stomach of cows, they will eat grass and they will be helpful to people.” This was his first fairy tales Change Stomach for Mice. Now he studies well in a middle school. He has written his third book, the novel called Eyes of Children. He says, “I am not different from other children. I just wrote several books.How many books has Dou Kou written?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five | D．Six |
Thanks to his _____, Dou Kou could write his books.
| A．mother | B．father |
| C．school life | D．life in different cities |
Dou Kou began to use a dictionary _____.
| A．when he wrote fairy tales |
| B．before his father taught him how to learn something |
| C．after he went to school |
| D．after his mother taught him how to learn something |
The underlined(划线的) sentences show us that Dou Kou _____.
| A．is different from other children |
| B．doesn’t tell the truth. |
| C．is the same as other children |
| D．likes his books |
Which is the best title?
| A．Three Books by a child |
| B．How to Write a Fairy Tales |
| C．How Clever the Boy is |
| D．Dou Kou, the Youngest Writer |
For thirty years, Johnson arrived at work at 9A.M. exactly. He never missed a day and was never late.
However, on one particular day, 9A.M. passed without Johnson’s arrival, it caused a sensation (轰动). All workers stopped and wait, and the boss himself looked at his watch and complained.
Finally, exactly at ten, Johnson turned up, clothes dusty and torn, his face hurt and bruised（挫伤）, his glasses bent. He limped painfully to the time clock, struck in with a strong fist, and said, knowing that all eyes were upon him, “I fell and rolled down two flights of stairs in the subway and nearly killed myself.”
But the boss said, “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”How long did Johnson work in the company?
| A．9 years. | B．10 years. | C．20 years. | D．30 years. |
What did the other workers do when Johnson was late for work?
| A．They were waiting for Johnson. |
| B．They did their work as usual. |
| C．They complained against Johnson. |
| D．They were excited to see Johnson was late. |
What does the boss mean when he said “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”?
| A．He was worried about Johnson’s health. |
| B．He was glad that Johnson was late for work. |
| C．He was surprised at Johnson’s being late for work. |
| D．He wanted to know more about the reason for Johnson’s being late for work. |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever . He sent his camera crew（摄制组）out one evening to film the sunset for him .
The next morning he said to the men , “ Have you provided me with that sunset ? ”
“ No , sir . ” the men answered .
The director was angry . “ Why not ? ” he asked .
“ Well , sir , ” one of the men answered . “ we’re on the east coast here , and the sets in the west . We can get you a sunrise over the sea , if necessary , but not a sunset . ”
“ But I want a sunset ! ” the director shouted . “ Go to the airport . take the next flight to the west coast , and get one . ”
But then a young secretary had an idea . “ Why don’t you photograph a sunrise . ” she suggested . “ and then play it backwards ? Then it’ll look like a sunset . ”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay（海湾）. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director . “ Here it is sir . ” they said , and gave it to him . He was very pleased .
They all went into the studio（摄影棚）. “ All right . ” the director explained . “ now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye . Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘ sunset behind them . ’ ”
The “ sunset ” began , but after a quarter of a minute , the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop .
The birds in the film were flying backwards . and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach .One evening, the director sent his camera crew out .
| A．to watch a beautiful sunset |
| B．to find an actor and an actress |
| C．to film a sunset scene on the sea |
| D．to meet the audience |
Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast ?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset . |
| B．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset . |
| C．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion . |
| D．Because he was angry with his crew . |
Which of the following is NOT true ?
| A．The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice . |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise , the east coast is the place to go to . |
| C．The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day . |
| D．The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “ sunset ” . |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because .
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and the heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset |
After the “ sunset ” began , the director suddenly put his face in his hands .
| A．because he was moved to tears |
| B．as he saw everything in the film moving backwards |
| C．as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined |
| D．because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine |
A lot of teachers hate doodlers(乱写乱画的人)during classes．“Pay attention!”Teachers will often warn doodling students，sure that they must be daydreaming．
However, according to a recent study, doodling while listening to a boring lecture helps concentrate the attention：
Andrade，a psychology professor in England asked participants(参加者)to listen to a boring lecture． Half the participants were told to color in squares and circles freely on a piece of paper while listening to the lecture．The other half weren’t given a task．After it was over, the participants were asked to retell the lecture．
Those given the doodling task(color in squares and circles)remembered 29 percent more information than the non-doodlers．Andrade said．
“If someone is doing a boring task，like listening to a dull conversation，they may start daydream，”said Professor Andrade．
“Daydreaming distracts(使分心)them from the task，resulting in poorer performance．A simple task，like doodling，can stop them from daydreaming without affecting their performance at the task，”he said．
So the next time you’re doodling during a class，and you hear“pay attention”，you can tell the teacher with confidence that you’ve been paying attention to every word． Teachers hate doodlers because they thought ．
| A．doodlers are not good at study |
| B．doodlers are doing no task |
| C．doodlers pay no attention in class |
| D．doodlers are not polite to them |
According to the text，it is helpful to doodle when ．
| A．a boring lecture is given |
| B．an interesting story is told |
| C．watching a long TV programme |
| D．having a conversation with the teacher |
Professor Andrade thinks ．
| A．those given the doodling task can remember less information |
| B．if you have daydream during classes you’ll have a good memory |
| C．daydreaming is better than doodling |
| D．doodling can stop us from daydreaming |
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