Encouraging pupils to keep noise to a minimum should be a valuable component of all children’s education, according to new research.
Dr. Helen Lees, from Stirling University’s school of education, says that “enforced（强制的）silence” is seen as a punishment and often acts to suppress children’s natural ability. But she says that teaching children about the benefits of “enforced silence”,--- deliberate stillness that gives them the opportunity to focus and reflect in a stress-free environment--- can have a significant effect on pupils’ concentration and behavior.
It is the latest in a string of researches to establish a link between the classroom environment and pupils’ academic ability.
A study almost a decade ago in London found that children’s exam results were cut by as much as a third if they were taught in noisy classrooms. Teaching unions have also called for a limit of 26℃ to be put on classroom temperatures because teachers and pupils struggle to work in hot conditions, and some educationalists claim that too much clutter（杂乱的东西）on classroom walls can prevent children from concentrating.
Dr. Lees said, “When we take some research on school settings and put it all together, what we see is that education without silence does not make much sense. In areas of better learning outcomes, better self- confidence and well-being measures, enforced silence in a person’s life and an individual’s education is shown throughout the relevant research to be a benefit.”
Dozens of schools across Britain have already introduced periods of “reflective silence” into the timetable.
Kevin Hogston, head of Sheringdale Primary, south London, has just introduced a minute’s silence at the start of twice-weekly meetings in which children are taught breathing techniques and encouraged to reflect. The school plans to introduce it into classrooms every day.According to Dr. Helen Lees, “enforced silence” ＿＿
| A．is an effective way of punishment |
| B．does not make much sense in class |
| C．can improve pupils’ confidence |
| D．makes pupils more creative |
The underlined word, “suppress”, in the second paragraph probably means “_________”.
| A．prevent | B．improve | C．apply | D．reveal |
What can be inferred from the research on school settings?
| A．Students are more active if taught in noisy classrooms. |
| B．Silence makes a great difference to pupils. |
| C．Clutter on the walls can help students concentrate. |
| D．Most schools are not satisfactory in terms of classroom temperatures. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Arranging classroom settings benefits studies |
| B．Achieving silence is beneficial for people |
| C．Using enforced silence is effective punishment |
| D．Keeping quiet in class improves academic performance |
When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously(同时地) about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen—they can’t do both—and they don’t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships—not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding（连接). A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked to them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to, and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brains of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually disappointed to receive only short grunts(哼哼声） in reply.While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they .
| A．are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends |
| B．can both talk and watch the screen at the same time |
| C．think they can have a good time and develop relationships |
| D．have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands |
After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to .
| A．experience the happy time again |
| B．keep a close tie with her |
| C．recommend her a new scenic spot |
| D．remind her of something forgotten |
What does the author want to tell us most?
| A．Women’s brains are better organized for language and communication. |
| B．Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men. |
| C．Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts. |
| D．Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Women are Socially Trained to Talk |
| B．Talking Maintains Relationships |
| C．Women Love to Talk |
| D．Men Talk Differently from Women |
| 1.How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday? ·Finding：A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day. ·Step：Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery－operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day. 2．How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday? ·Finding：Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30% wash their hands only 4 times a day—half of the number doctors recommend. ·Step：We touch our faces around 3，000 times a day—often inviting germs(病菌)to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes. Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds. 3．How often do you think about fighting germs? ·Finding：Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should. ·Step：Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge(海绵)that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds. |
What is found out about American seniors?
| A．Most of them have good habits. |
| B．Nearly 30% of them bathe three days a week. |
| C．All of them are fighting germs better than expected. |
| D．About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day. |
Doctors suggest that people should wash their hands ________．
| A．twice a day | B．three times a day |
| C．four times a day | D．eight times a day |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．We should keep from touching our faces. |
| B．There are less than 300 types of bacteria in the mouth. |
| C．A kitchen sponge can carry more germs than a toilet. |
| D．We should wash our hands before touching a door handle. |
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise—and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of aging could be slowed down.
With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations.
Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect (智能) and emotion, and determine the human character. (The rear section of the brain, which controls functions like eating and breathing, does not contract with age, and one can continue living without intellectual or emotional faculties.)
Contraction of front and side parts—as cells die off—was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty- and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy to the contraction normally associated with age—using the head. The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant. Matsuzawa’s findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need. “The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain,” he says, “Think hard and engage in conversation. Don’t rely on pocket calculators.”The team of doctors wanted to find out ________.
why certain people age sooner than others
B. how to make people live longer
C. the size of certain people’s brains
D. which people are most intelligentOn what are their research findings based?
A survey of farmers in northern Japan.
B. Tests performed on a thousand old people.
C. The study of brain volumes of different people
D. The latest development of computer technology.The word “subjects” in Paragraph 5 means ________.
something to be considered
B. branches of knowledge studied
C. persons chosen to be studied in an experiment
D. any member of a state except the supreme ruler.According to the passage, which people seem to age slower than the others?
| A．Lawyers. | B．Farmers. |
| C．Clerks. | D．Shop assistants. |
When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved(毫无掩饰的)．
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss.For adults, happiness is complicated(复杂的)．
My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”．The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are.It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch－box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work.I don't think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have. We're so self－conscious about our “right” to it that it's making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier.
Happiness isn't about what happens to us—it's about how we see what happens to us. It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.As people grow older, they ________．
| A．feel it harder to experience happiness . |
| B．associate their happiness less with others |
| C．will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness |
| D．tend to believe responsibility means happiness |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?
| A．She cares little about her own health. |
| B．She enjoys the freedom of traveling. |
| C．She is easily pleased by things in daily life. |
| D．She prefers getting pleasure from housework. |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?
| A．Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness. |
| B．Psychologists' opinion is well proved by Grandma's case. |
| C．Grandma often found time for social gatherings. |
| D．Grandma's happiness came from modest expectations of life. |
People who equal happiness with wealth and success ________．
| A．consider pressure something blocking their way |
| B．stress their right to happiness too much |
| C．are at a loss to make correct choices |
| D．are more likely to be happy |
After ruling the tennis world for almost five years, Roger Federer is adjusting to life at NO.2. But, like any king whose throne has been taken away, the Swiss star is already planning secretly his return to power, beginning at this week’s US Open.
The problem is, many experts think he will never do it. They blame everything from age and tough competition to his racket and psychology.
For years Federer, 27, had enjoyed the view from the top. Competitors saw him as undefeated, and for the most part he was. However, before the 2008 season began, Federer had an illness that stole his strength and clearly affected his play on the court. Ever since, he has struggled to return to form, winning just two of his last 14 tournaments.
“Twenty-seven is an age when your body starts talking back to you.” tennis great John McEnroe told the New York Times.
Pancho Sefura, another tennis great, noted that Federer is also facing a maturing crop of young talents. “There are too many great players now,” he said, naming Britain’s Andy Murray, 21, and Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, 20.
US magazine Sports Illustrated tennis columnist Jon Wertheim suggested that part of Federer’s problem could be his insistence on using a small racket. He says that the smaller head demands ball control. But we see time and again that racket makers try to get players to use a certain stick — one they would like to market to consumers and it has a negative effect the professional game.
Sports psychologist Jim Loehr told the Times that Federer is probably feeling “a sense of doubt” after being considered as undefeated for so long. If Federer is to recover his state of being undefeated, Loehr said he must overcome his doubt. “Federer doesn’t need fame and money. But he has to get better. He has to go to a whole new level. That’s the only way he stays in the game,” he said.
As for beginning his first Grand Slam in ages as the NO.2 seed, Federer said it might be for the best. “Five years almost, I was expected to win every tournament I entered,” he said, “so maybe Rafael Nadal now feels what I had to feel for a very long time. It will be interesting to see how he handles it.”What does the underlined sentence “your body starts talking back to you” in Para.4 mean?
| A．Your body often argues with you. |
| B．You can do whatever you want. |
| C．Your strength is beginning to decline. |
| D．You are more easily to have quite terrible diseases. |
From the passage, we know the main reason why Federer’s throne was taken away is that _____.
| A．he is becoming older and older. |
| B．he insisted on using a small racket. |
| C．he is facing a maturing crop of young talents. |
| D．he had an illness that stole his strength. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Now it is Nadal who has replaced Federer as the No.1tennis player. |
| B．the racket makers aim at the players’ better performance in games. |
| C．It is impossible for Federer to return to power. |
| D．Federer has never won a Grand Slam before. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Nadal — The No.1 Tennis Player |
| B．Federer — Always Undefeated |
| C．State of Mind Plays a Important Role |
| D．Federer Hopes to Recover His Magic |
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