Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch.
“What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.
“We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!” one of the brothers said excitedly.
The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible. After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and all kinds of other insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing(嘲笑)visitors. Then he said quietly and confidently, “Even if we don’t dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!”
Their goal was far too ambitious（有野心的）, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for — to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to set us to digging!
But not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every relationship will endure(长久持续). Not every dream will be realized. But when you fall short of your aim, perhaps you can say, “Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something!”
It is in the digging that life is lived. And I believe it is joy in the journey, in the end, that truly matters.Which of the following is NOT the reason why the older boys laughed at the two brothers?
| A．The two brothers only dug out a lot of insects |
| B．The two brothers lacked knowledge of the earth. |
| C．The two brothers were foolish. |
| D．The two brothers had a far too ambitious goal. |
What does the underlined part “when you fall short of your aim” probably mean?
| A．When you are shorter than you expected |
| B．When you have less than the amount than you wanted |
| C．When you fail to obtain（得到）what you expected |
| D．When you miss the target you are aiming at |
The passage is written to _____.
| A．tell readers a story |
| B．teach readers how to set a goal |
| C．praise the two brothers |
| D．teach readers a lesson |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Dig a Hole Through the Earth |
| B．Joy in the Journey |
| C．Realize Your Goal |
| D．Don’t Laugh at Others |
Boys at the top of the pecking order(长幼次序) either by birth or because their older brothers died score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers.
Norwegian researchers now report that it’s a matter of what they call social rank in the family that gives the first born the highest scores or, if the first born had died young, the next oldest.
Kristensen and Bjerkedal studied the IQ test results of 241,310 Norwegian men drafted(征兵) into the armed forces between 1967 and 1976. All were aged 18 or 19 at the time.
The average IQ of first-born men was 103.2, they found second-born men averaged 101.2, but second-born men whose older brother died young scored 102.9. And for third-borns, the average was 100.0. But if both older brothers died young，the third-born score rose to 102.6.
The findings provide “evidence that the relation between birth order and IQ score is dependent on the social rank in the family and not birth order as such.” they concluded.
It’s an issue that has been hotly discussed since at least 1874,when Sir Francis Galton reported that men in noticeable positions tended to be firstborns more often than would have been statistically (统计) expected.
Since then, several studies have reported higher intelligence scores for firstborns, while other analyses have questioned those findings and the methods of those reports.
“These two researchers prove that how study participants(参与者) were raised, not how they were born, is what actually influences their IQs,” said Sulloway, an American professor, who was not part of the research team.
“The elder child pulls ahead,” he said, “perhaps as a result of learning gained through the process of tutoring younger brothers and sisters”.
“The older child benefits by having to organize and express its thoughts to tutor youngsters”, he said, “while the later born children may have no one to tutor.”According to Norwegain researchers’ finding, which of the following is linked to boys’ IQ?
| A．Birth order | B．Position in the family |
| C．Parents’ social rank | D．Educational experience |
What does the sentence “It’s an issue that has been hotly discussed” underlined in Paragraph 6 mean?
| A．Many people take interest in IQ study. |
| B．IQ study has gone further and further. |
| C．Many people do research on boys’ IQ. |
| D．Opinions are divided on the conclusion. |
According to Kristensen and Bjerkedal’s test results, parents can make youngsters smarter by ________.
| A．treating them as the oldest child |
| B．teaching them as the oldest child |
| C．talking to them as much as possible |
| D．encouraging them to express thoughts |
“I didn’t hear them call my name,” explained Shelley Hennig to Active Teens (AT) as she talked about that exciting moment on national television when she won the honor of Miss Teen USA 2013. “Are you ready?” is what she heard. Then she said, “I shook my head no, and then they said ‘yes’ and it was announced again."
It was four days after that life changing moment for the seventeen-year-old high school student from Destrehan, Louisiana—she was still on cloud nine.
“I was so shocked! I never believed that it could actually really happen.” Present in the audience(观众)that day were: her mother and father, older brother, her friends, and her dance teacher.
Understanding why members of her family and her friends would be there, AT asked why her dance teacher had traveled so far to see her compete. “She’s always been my role model. I’ve danced with her since I was six. She’s been through so many difficulties and came through them all. I’ve learned to get over bad life’s experiences and learned how to move on because of her.”
One of those bad life’s experiences for Shelley happened three years ago when her brother Brad was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was 18. She found writing helped her get through the rough days. She said, “I write a lot about my brother. I write a lot, a lot, a lot...”
As Miss Louisiana Teen, she traveled around the state speaking to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. In her role as Miss Teen USA, Shelley will continue to speak to youth about safe driving, in addition to many other things to help the youth.
When AT asked Miss Teen USA if she had any advice for our readers, she said, “Don’t let anyone change you. Hang out with people that make you feel good about yourself. That way, it is easy to be yourself.The underlined words “on cloud nine” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by ________.
| A．frightened | B．troubled | C．very happy | D．very angry |
Shelley takes her dance teacher as a role model mainly because she is _______.
| A．determined | B．friendly | C．strict | D．experienced |
What did Shelley often do after she became Miss Louisiana Teen?
| A．She visited drunken drivers. |
| B．She gave dance performance. |
| C．She made speeches on safe driving. |
| D．She helped other teens with their studies. |
What suggestion does Shelley give to the teens?
| A．Be yourself with the support of friends. |
| B．Meet friends whenever possible. |
| C．Go easy on yourself and others. |
| D．Have a good role model. |
MANY of us enjoy doing it: you turn on the camera on your mobile phone and hold it at a high angle (角度), making your eyes look bigger and your cheekbones more marked out. You turn to your best side and click.
There it is – your selfie.
Over the past year, “selfie” has become a well-known term across the globe. This August the Oxford dictionary added the word to their online dictionary and defined it as: “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”
Today it’s not difficult to find social networking pages full of photos people have taken of themselves and their friends. And selfie culture has become especially related to young people. As many as 91 percent of teenagers have posted photos of themselves online, according to a recent survey by the US Pew Research Center.
So what are the reasons for the rise of selfie culture?
“The cult (狂热) of the selfie celebrates regular people,” Pamela Rutledge, a professor at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, told Vogue magazine. “There are many more photographs available now of real people than models.”
Posting selfies also allows you to control your image online. “I like having the power to choose how I look, even if I’m making a funny face,” Samantha Barks, 19, a high school student in the US, told Vogue.
In addition to self-expression and documentation (记录), selfies “allow for an close friendship for long-distance friends, because you can see each other’s faces every day”, wrote Casey Miller at The Huffington Post.
But US psychologist Jill Weber is concerned that selfies might lead to social problems. “There’s a danger that your self-esteem (自尊心) may start to be tied to the comments and ‘likes’ you get when you post a selfie, and they aren’t based on who you are – they’re based on what you look like,” Weber told Vogue. “When you get nothing or a negative response, your confidence can plummet.” The first paragraph is intended to _________.
| A．explain why selfie is popular | B．describe how to make selfie |
| C．show the importance of selfie | D．introduce the topic of selfie |
How many reasons for the rise of selfie culture are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
What is Jill Weber’s opinion about selfies?
| A．Comments on selfie are based on who you are. |
| B．Selfies have more disadvantages than advantages. |
| C．Others’ response to selfies might affect one’s self-esteem. |
| D．Selfies shouldn’t be encouraged for they lead to social problems. |
The underlined word “plummet” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．go down | B．calm down | C．pick up | D．build up |
An estimated 80 percent of American adults think music lessons, though at times boring and challenging in the eyes of some kids, improve children’s ability to learn or their performance in school . They say that the satisfaction for learning to play a new song helps a child express creativity.
Researchers at Harvard University, however, have found that there’s one thing musical training does not do. Samuel Mehr, the leading researcher of the new study, said it is wrong to think that learning to play a musical instrument improves a child’s intellectual development. The evidence comes from studies that measured the mental ability of two groups of 4-year-olds and their parents. One group attended music class; the comparison group went to a class that places importance on the optical arts-arts that can be seen.
“We found no evidence for any advantage on any of these tests for the kids participating in these music classes,” said Mehr.
Samuel Mehr says researchers have carried out many studies in an effort to learn whether musical training can make children smarter. Only one study seems to show a small percentage increase in IQ, intellectual scores among students after one year of music lessons.
He does not believe that IQ is a good measure of a child’s intelligence. Therefore, the researchers in his study compared how well children in the musical training group did on mental processing tasks, then the results were compared to those of children who did not take lessons.
Music lessons may not offer children a fast easy way to gain entry to the best schools later of their life, but the training is still important.
Mr Mehr notes that the works of writer William Shakespeare are not taught , so the children will do better in physics. He says Shakespeare is taught because it is important for cultural reasons.“And I don’t think music needs to be any different than that.”What attitude do most American grown-ups have towards music lessons? _________
| A．Uninterested | B．Approving | C．Doubtful | D．Uncertain |
The underlined word“optical”in Paragraph 2 probably means .
| A．visual | B．colorful | C．traditional | D．serious |
According to Samuel Mehr, _________ .
| A．many studies show that music training can improve IQ |
| B．IQ is a good measure of a child’s intelligence |
| C．music can enable a child to go to a better school |
| D．music should be taught for cultural reasons |
The study shows that .
| A．early music training has negative effects |
| B．musical lessons should be stopped at school |
| C．musical training doesn’t improve kids’ intelligence |
| D．playing musical instrument makes kids more creative |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend (hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels. People who are unhappy _______.
| A．always consider things differently from others |
| B．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| C．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
| D．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” in the first paragraph most nearly means “_______”.
| A．make others unhappy |
| B．tend to scold others openly |
| C．have a good taste with social life |
| D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| C．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
In this passage, the writer mainly _______.
| A．describes two types of people |
| B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．tells people how to be happy in life |
| D．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness |
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