"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.
Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis Cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits (成就). Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future. Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ’You are completely crazy,’" Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter (遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.The turning point in Saunders’ life came when ________.
| A．he started to play ball games |
| B．he got a mountain bike at age 15 |
| C．he ran his first marathon at age 18 |
| D．he started to receive Ridgway’s training |
We can learn from the text that Ridgway ________.
| A．dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy |
| B．built up his body together with Saunders |
| C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience |
| D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic |
What do we know about Saunders?
| A．He once worked at a school in Scotland. |
| B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole. |
| C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid. |
| D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole. |
The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．Excited | B．Convinced | C．Delighted | D．Fascinated |
It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ________.
| A．was accompanied by his old playmates |
| B．set a record in the North Pole expedition |
| C．was supported by other Arctic explorers |
| D．made him well-known in the 1960s |
Biodiversity(生物多样性), or biological diversity, is a wide-ranging concept that covers all the different kinds of plant and animal species present on earth. Environmentalists believe that many millions of species exist. As all these living organisms are dependent on each other in some way, biodiversity is desirable. Any loss to the planet is actually a loss for mankind as well, and it is our responsibility to try and save Earth’s biodiversity.
Biodiversity has a vital role to play in the evolution（演变）of species. Species become extinct, but new species evolve, and this is how a balance is maintained. This may sound pretty simple, but it takes millions of years for changes to take place.
Biodiversity is also very important to the stability of food webs. Damage to them can mean disaster for an entire ecosystem. The extinction of a single animal species can put huge pressure on the numerous other species dependent on it.
Biodiversity also has an important role to play in human society. Apart from being the most intelligent species on earth, human beings are also the most dependent. We depend on nature to meet our basic needs. When we change the balance of nature to create our cities and bring about our technical advances, we knowing or unknowing cause great damage to the ecosystem. This must be understood, and the damages must be reversed（颠倒）in any way they can to ensure that the balance of the ecosystem is maintained. We learn from the first paragraph that_________.
A biodiversity can be seen
B all living species are found on earth.
C people everywhere are aware of the importance of biodiversity
D the loss of any species can affect humansWhy can change in food webs lead to disaster?
A Because it can make people suffer from disease
B Because it can put huge pressure on some species
C Because it takes a long time for such changes to take place
D Because it will damage ninety-nine percent of speciesWhat does the underlined word probably mean?
A 画线 B Peace C Strength D VarietyWe learn from the last paragraph that __________.
A humans are as independent as they are intelligent
B the balance of the ecosystem is easily maintained
C nature has given us a lot
D nature is taking revenge on usWhich of the following may be the best title for this passage?
A Food Webs are Closely Related to Biodiversity.
B Biodiversity Plays a Very Important Role in Evolution
C How Biodiversity Affects Human Society.
D Understanding Biodiversity and Its Importance.
| GONE WITH THE WIND Author: Margaret Mitchell ¥25 (in bookstores) ¥18 (online) Gone With the Wind is a best-seller, which tells a story that happened in the American Civil War. Scarlett Ohara is a woman in the story who is full of energy. She is strong and saves her family but is very selfish at the same time. |
| A LITTLE PRINCESS Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett ¥18.3 (online) Motherless Sara Crewe was sent home from India to school at Miss Minchin’s. Her father was very rich and she lived a rich and comfortable life. Then her father died and Sara lost everything. She had to learn to do with her changed life. Her strong character made her able to fight successfully against her poverty(贫穷) and the scorn(嘲笑) of her fellows. It’s an excellent book with 4 tapes for children |
| PETER PAN Author: J.M Barrie ¥15 (in bookstores) ¥12 (online) It is a children’s story full of imagination and adventures, which is about Wendy, John, and Michael Darling’s adventures in Never-Never Land with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up. The children are happy and lovely. (with 2 tapes) |
| UNCLE TOM’S CABIN Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe ¥20 (in bookstores) The most famous novel in American history, Uncle Tom’s Cabin talked about the struggle between free states and slave states during the American Civil War and is as powerful today as when it first came out 150 years ago. |
| THE SECRET GARDEN Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett ¥35 (in bookstores) ¥30 (online) Mary Lennox, a sickly orphan(孤儿), finds herself in her uncle’s dark house. Why are so many rooms locked? Why is one of the gardens locked? And what is that crying she hears at night? Through the power of hope, friendship, and the magic of nature, the brave girl brings the house and a long-lost garden back to life. |
All of the following books have children as their main characters except _______.
| A．PETER PAN | B．GONE WITH THE WIND |
| C．A LITTLE PRINCESS | D．THE SECRET GARDEN |
We can know from the passage that _________.
| A．there are only three books with tapes |
| B．we can buy 5 kinds of the above books in bookstores |
| C．two of the books are written by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
| D．THE SECRET GARDEN is ¥5 cheaper in bookstores than online |
Mary brings the house and a long-lost garden back to life with the help of ______
a. the power of hope b. friendship c. her uncle d. Nature’s magic
| A．a, b, c | B．a, c, d | C．b, c, d | D．a, b, d |
Which of the following about the books is mentioned in this text?
A What Sara did to help her fellows
B Why Peter Pan wouldn’t grow up.
C What kind of woman Scarlett is.
D How Marry Lennox came into her uncle’s house.
This text is most probably taken from a __________.
A newspaper B science magazine C storybook D book guide
In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation.
In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather: “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching: “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language. The way people great each and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.Small talk ___.
| A．is a kind of conversation with short words |
| B．is a greeting when people meet each other |
| C．is to let people disagree about something |
| D．is something we talk about to start a conversation |
The best topic of small talk is about ___.
| A．the weather | B．politics | C．Games | D．languages |
The passage suggests that when we learn a language ___.
| A．we should learn about the transport system of the country |
| B．we should only master the grammar and vocabulary |
| C．we should know the culture about the country |
| D．we should grasp the importance of the language |
When we say “Great game, isn’t it?” we in fact___.
| A．ask a question | B．have a conversation |
| C．greet each other | D．begin a small talk |
What we learn from the passage is that ___.
| A．different language has different grammar |
| B．small talk is an important part in a language |
| C．small talk depends on the purpose of the conversation |
| D．in English-speaking countries we should talk about the weather. |
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
This is an old English saying. Have you heard of it before? It means that we must go to bed early and get up early in the morning. Then we shall be healthy. We shall also be rich (wealthy) and clever (wise).
This is true. The body must have enough sleep to be healthy. Children of young age should have ten hours’ sleep every night. Children who do not have enough sleep cannot do their work very well. They will not be wise and they may not become wealthy!
The body also needs exercise. Walking, running, jumping, swimming and playing games are all exercise. Exercise keeps the body strong. Exercise also helps the blood (血液) to move around inside the body. This is very important. Our blood takes food to all parts of our body. The head also needs blood .Exercise helps us to think better!If we get up early and go to bed early , we’ll _________ .
| A．have enough exercise |
| B．be healthy |
| C．think better |
| D．have strong blood |
If a child doesn’t have 10 hours’ sleep, maybe he _____ .
| A．becomes wise |
| B．won’t do well in his work |
| C．goes to school in time |
| D．has enough sleep |
A person needs exercise because _______ .
| A．it makes him healthy |
| B．he has a lot of homework to do |
| C．he is strong enough |
| D．he does exercise |
Exercise makes the ______ move quickly and smoothly(流畅)
| A．body | B．blood | C．children | D．head |
Which of the following is Not TRUE?
| A．Exercise does good to a person’s head |
| B．A student should have 10 hours’ sleep |
| C．It’s good for you to get up early and go to bed early. |
| D．If you have enough blood, you’ll be wise. |
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