When I heard the piano, I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside as I always did. That meant she was working with another student, and I was not supposed to bother them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and daydreamed what I’d rather be doing. “Almost anything”, I sighed dejectedly. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn’t have a gift for it. It didn’t come to me naturally. I thought back to happier times when I was writing stories and acting them out with my friends, cutting up old clothes to make dresses that performers wear in plays, and building scenery out of old things we found. But Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons for free, so I felt my duty to try.
The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to sort through my sheet music.
“Hello,” I heard a voice behind me say softly. I turned around to see a little girl standing behind me, eating an apple. But before I could make any response, Mrs. Windsor walked into the room in her usual urgent manner and announced,“Jennifer, this is my niece, Pasha. Pasha, this is Jennifer. Pasha will be giving you your lesson today. I’m up to my ears in something else!” she then exited to the kitchen.
Pasha set her apple down on the side table and slid beside me on the piano bench.
“What piece do you like best?”she asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “They’re all the same to me. I don’t know.
“You mean you don’t have a favorite?”
“No, not really.”
Pasha looked at me, rather puzzled, then opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I arranged my fingers on the keys and studied the notes on the page for a moment. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements. I have to admit I was a rather mechanical pianist.
After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as if to calm my fingers. There was a long pause. “What are you hearing in the music?” I looked at her rather strangely and admitted I didn’t know what she meant.
“Like a story. What story is being playing out within the music?”
“I guess I’ve never thought about it before. I don’t know.”
“Here, let me try and you listen,” Pasha advised.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers dance lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. “See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?”
Her fingers rose and fell gently on the keys.“Now the princess appears and she’s picking flowers from the water’s edge.”A carefree, happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha’s dancing fingers. “Oh, but she slips!”The music changed. “And our princess is being carried off by the fast-flowing stream. Quickly, the princess’s horse sees her plight (困境),” Pasha continued, and races to the river’s edge where he swims out to let her catch hold of him. They make it to the bank and she hugs her faithful horse and swears she will never again wear princess skirts that weigh her down. She will only wear jeans and T-shirt from now on.” Pasha finished with a big smile and then looked at me.
“Aren’t you the girl who tells the stories?” she asked.
“I guess. I do tell a lot of stories.”
“Oh, yes! All the kids talk about them. I’ve heard about you. Well, all you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music. That’s all there is to it.”
“I’ve never thought it that way.”
“Let’s try another one, shall we?”Pasha smiled and together we played that afternoon, finding the stories in the music and learning that sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the river onto dry land again.The underlined word “dejectedly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______
| A．nervously | B．desperately |
| C．impatiently | D．unhappily |
Jennifer got lost in thought when she ________
| A．played the piano with Pasha for the first time |
| B．listened to Pasha tell her story about the princess |
| C．remembered happier times of writing stories and acting them out |
| D．discovered that Mrs. Windsor’s niece would be giving the piano lesson |
By describing herself as a mechanical pianist, the author showed ______
| A．she could remember the notes in a short time |
| B．she was playing the piano without thinking |
| C．Pasha was showing off her skills |
| D．it had been a long time since she played last time |
58. Which of the following can best describe Pasha?
| A．Creative | B．Naughty |
| C．Humorous | D．Brave |
Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．Never Give up | B．A Piano Lesson |
| C．Why I Hated Playing the Piano | D．A Friend for Ever |
This text would be probably found in ______
| A．a collection of stories about friendship and learning |
| B．a book of daily records about famous young musicians |
| C．a magazine series about the challenges of overcoming fears |
| D．a series of newspaper articles about musical instruments |
Caffeine not only gives us a daily jump start, but new research suggests it also can strengthen long-term memory.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, nearly 90 percent of people worldwide consume about 200 milligrams of caffeine each day. That' s equivalent to about one strong cup of coffee a day. Writing in " Nature Neuroscience" , Johns Hopkins University researchers say their findings show that caffeine strengthens certain memories for up to 24 hours after being taken in.
" We've always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects (促智效果) , but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans, " said senior author of the paper Michael Yassa. " We re- port for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours. " Conducting a double-blind trial, the researchers worked with a test group of people who didn't regularly consume caffeinated products. Five minutes after studying a series of images, the test subjects were given either a placebo(无效对照剂) or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet.
To check the caffeine levels of their test subjects, the research team took saliva samples (唾液样品) from them before they took their tablets and again one, three and 24 hours afterwards.
Both groups of test participants ( those who took the placebo and those who took the caffeine tablet) were tested the following day to see if they could recognize the images they' d seen the previous day.
The test included showing the test subjects another series of images that included some new images , those that were shown the previous day, as well as other images that were similar, but not the same as those they had viewed earlier.
The researchers found that more members of the group who were given the caffeine tablets were able to correctly identify some of the new images as " similar" to previously viewed images rather than incorrectly identifying them as the same.
"We also know that caffeine is associated with health and longevity(长寿) and may have some protective effects from cognitive decline like Alzheimer' s disease (阿尔茨海默症). " said Yassa.
The purpose of the new research is ____________.
| A．to examine caffeine ' s memory-strengthening effects in detail |
| B．to write the paper " Nature Neuroscience" |
| C．to prove caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects |
| D．to survey how much caffeine people consume a day |
During the research , the researchers did the following things EXCEPT ________.
| A．giving the test subjects placebos or caffeine tablets |
| B．checking the caffeine levels of the test subjects |
| C．showing the test subjects series of images |
| D．encouraging the test subjects to drink more coffee |
How did the test subjects show the caffeine ' s memory-strengthening effects?
| A．By taking the caffeine tablets instead of placebos. |
| B．By recognizing images they ' d seen the previous day. |
| C．By identifying the new images as the same. |
| D．By telling the differences between new images. |
What will the next part of the text possibly talk about?
| A．Ways to achieve health and longevity. |
| B．The harmful effects of cognitive decline. |
| C．The treatment for Alzheimer' s disease. |
| D．The effects caffeine has on health. |
Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired Joy Satisfaction No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
| A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood. |
| B．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue. |
| C．Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn after a day’s work. |
| D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins. |
According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
| A．Challenging mental work. | B．Endless tasks. |
| C．Physical labor. | D．Unpleasant emotions. |
Which of the following is properly used to describe the author’s attitude to the scientists’ idea?
| A．He hesitates to accept them. | B．He doubts them. |
| C．He argues against them. | D．He agrees with them. |
It is implied in the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ___________.
| A．enjoy their work | B．have some good food. |
| C．exercise regularly | D．discover fatigue toxins |
完形填空，阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A, B, C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
A young businessman was traveling down a narrow street, driving a bit too fast in his new Benz. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and ________ when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed into the Benz’s side door. He slammed on the brakes and ________ the Benz back to the spot from ________ the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car, ________ some kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting “What was that all about and who are you? Just what on earth are you doing?” ________ a head of steam, he went on “That’s a new car and that brick you threw is gonna cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?” “Please, mister, please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do!” pleaded the youngster.
“It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled ________ the stairs and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t ________ him up.”
________, the boy asked the businessman, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the ________ swelling lump in his ________ . He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the ________ , checking ________ that everything was going to be okay.
“Thank you, sir. And God bless you,” the ________ child said to him. The man then watched the little boy push his brother to the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to his Benz...a long, ________ walk. He never did ________ the side door. He kept the damage to remind him not to ________life so fast that someone has to ________ a brick at you to get your attention.
Life whispers in your soul and ________ to your heart. Sometimes, when you don’t have the time to listen...Life throws a brick at your head.
It’s your choice: Listen to the whispers of your soul ________ wait for the brick!
Do you sometimes ignore loved ones because your life is too fast and busy ________ them to wonder whether you really love them?
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The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says more than half of the world’s wildlife population has been lost, which the conservation group says has placed the health of the planet at risk.
The WWF recently released its 10th Flagship Living Planet Report. The group warns the condition of the world's animals is worse than its earlier reports showed, indicating worldwide action is needed.
The WWF is worried about the loss of and damage to Earth’s environment. The report provides information about more than 10,000 animal populations from 1970 to 2010. These populations are called “vertebrate species,” or animals with backbones — like fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. The report shows these populations have dropped by 52 percent in just 40 years. It warns freshwater species have fallen by 76 percent, which is almost twice the loss of land and ocean species. Most of these losses are in the tropics, with the biggest drop in Latin America.
Marco Lambertini, the WWF’s International Director-General said, “This is about losing natural habitats. This is about converting forests, grasslands, and wetlands into agriculture mainly, and it is about unsustainable use of wildlife. Illegal hunting has been actually increasing over the last 10 years, which definitely a driving force for extinction, particularly of large species.”
The report also notes what it calls the world’s “Ecological Footprint”, that is, the effect of human activities on the planet. Mr. Lambertini says there has been an increase in carbon dioxide gases and the pouring of nitrogen into oceans and rivers from fertilizers used in agriculture, which certainly cannot continue.
“We are consuming on average every year about the equivalent of about 1.5, one and a half times the resources available to the planet. That means we are cutting trees more quickly than they can be restored. We are fishing the oceans more quickly than fishing stocks can reproduce, and we are emitting in the atmosphere more CO2 than the natural systems can actually absorb, which is clearly not sustainable.”
Mr. Lambertini warns climate change affects almost everyone on the planet and that whole species may disappear if the world does not reduce the effects of humans on the climate.According to the passage, what kind of species faces the biggest drop in population?
| A．Land and ocean species. |
| B．Animals with backbones. |
| C．Freshwater species in Latin America. |
| D．Freshwater species in the tropics. |
All the following can contribute to the loss of world’s wildlife population EXCEPT ________.
| A．turning wildlife habitats into agriculture land. |
| B．making sustainable use of wildlife. |
| C．hunting illegally. |
| D．emitting CO2 gases and pouring nitrogen. |
Which does the underlined word “converting” in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Conserving. | B．Conveying. |
| C．Exchanging. | D．Transforming. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．Marco is much concerned about human’s current behaviors towards wildlife. |
| B．what the planet provides now can satisfy human’s sustainable development. |
| C．more than half of the world’s wildlife population has been lost. |
| D．if humans reduce the effects on the climate, the whole species will not disappear. |
When computer servers operate a complex program, they can get very hot. Cooling the servers can be costly. So researchers asked what would happen if the heat created by the servers could be captured and used?
Data centers of large Internet companies such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computer servers. As these servers process information, they create large amounts of heat, so they need huge cooling systems, which send the heat into the air.
The Dutch company Nerdalize thinks paying for electricity to operate the servers and then paying again to cool them is a waste of energy. So it developed a device called the e-Radiator, a computer server that also works as a heating source.
Boaz Leupe, the chief executive officer of Nerdalize, says the e-Radiator saves money because companies don’t have to pay to cool their servers. “…The kilowatt hour you are using is used twice — once to heat the home and once to compute the client’s task without the cooling expenses.”
At present five homeowners in the Netherlands are testing the heating device in their homes.
“We compensate the electricity the server uses, and that we can do because of the computer clients on the other side, and, in that way, homeowners actually get heating for free, and computer users don’t have to pay for the expenses of the data center.”
Jan Visser is one of the participants in the year-long experiment. He notices that the amount of heat produced by the e-Radiator depends on the work being done by the computer server. He reveals it cannot be used as the primary source of heat. But he is ready to try it. “If it provides enough warmth, I will be able to use my home’s heating system less, which will save me money.” he added.
Nerdalize says e-Radiators create heat temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius. It’s also said that the devices could save users up to $440 in heating costs a year.What can we learn from this passage?
| A．E-Radiator can save homeowners a big sum of money in cooling the computers. |
| B．Google and Nerdalize developed the heating device, e-Radiator. |
| C．E-Radiator has been put into use in the Netherlands. |
| D．The heating device will benefit computer users as well as homeowners. |
According to the passage, what’s Jan Visser’s attitude towards e-Radiator?
| A．Cautious. | B．Positive. | C．Satisfied. | D．Doubtful. |
Where can we most probably read the passage?
| A．In an economic report. |
| B．In a science magazine. |
| C．In an education newspaper. |
| D．In a computer guide book. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Money-saving heating device. |
| B．E-Radiator, the primary source of heat. |
| C．Hot computers could be used to heat home. |
| D．Nerdalize developed e-Radiator, a heating system. |
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