Curiosity is what drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward. But how does one generate (产生) curiosity, in oneself or others? George Loewenstein, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, offered an answer in the classic1994 paper, “The Psychology of Curiosity.”
Curiosity arises, Loewenstein wrote, “when attention becomes focused on a gap in one's knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation (匮乏) labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce the feeling of deprivation.” Loewenstein's theory helps explain why curiosity is such a force: it's not only a mental state but also an emotion, a powerful feeling that drives us forward.
Scientist Daniel Willingham notes that teachers are often “so eager to get to the answer that we do not devote enough time to developing the question.” Yet it's the question that stimulates (刺激) curiosity; being told an answer stops curiosity before it can even get going.
In his 1994 paper, George Loewenstein noted that curiosity requires some basic knowledge. We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about. But as soon as we know even a little bit, our curiosity is aroused and we want to learn more. In fact, research shows that curiosity increases with knowledge: the more we know, the more we want to know. To get this process started, Loewenstein suggests, take steps with some interesting but incomplete information.
Language teachers have long used communication in exercises that open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it. For example, one student might be given a series of pictures for the beginning of the story, while the student's partner is given a series of pictures showing how that same story ends. Only by speaking with each other (in the foreign language they are learning, of course) can the students fill in each others' information gaps.
1.When one notices a gap in his knowledge, he .
A.desires to fill it
B.tends to be afraid
C.might get tired and sad
D.will become focused on his learning
2.What does Daniel Willingham imply in the article?
A.Answers are more important than questions.
B.Teachers should be eager to get to the answer.
C.Teachers know how to stimulate students’ curiosity.
D.Teachers are partly to blame for students’ hating school.
3.According to George Loewenstein’s paper, curiosity about something occurs only when you .
A.have read a lot of books B.know little about something
C.have some related information D.are given incomplete information
4.What is the article mainly about?
A.Why students hate school.
B.Why curiosity is important.
C.How to stimulate curiosity.
D.What makes people hungry for knowledge.
When it comes to making healthy lifestyle changes, which should come first — changing your diet or becoming more physically active?
Previous studies suggested that providing people with too much information about nutrition and physical activity at once tends to be discouraging. That has led to the popularity of advising people to make changes gradually, and set smaller goals.
So the scientists divided 200 inactive participants who were age 45 or older into four groups. One group was instructed about making diet and fitness changes at the same time, the second group was taught about diet changes first, then fitness changes four months later, the third group changed their exercise habits first and made changes in their eating habits four months later, and the final, control group was not instructed about either diet or fitness changes but about how to manage their stress.
The researchers tracked the groups for a full year. Compared to the control group, the three intervention (干预) groups made healthy changes in their diet. Those who changed their fitness habits first significantly increased the amount of exercise they received daily compared to the other groups after four months. However, at the end of the year, the group that changed both diet and exercise at the same time was the only one that met the nationally recommended targets for both exercise and nutrition levels, while those who worked on improving their nutrition first were unable to meet the recommended levels of fitness after a year. The researchers suspect that changes to diet are easier to make than changes to physical activity.
The findings show, however, that pairing diet and exercise changes may help to overcome some of the barriers people face in adding more physical activity into their lives. If folks change diet and exercise orderly, the scientists say, they may end up placing more importance on the first set of behavior changes and feel less pressured to address the second set.
1.The advice mentioned in the second paragraph seemed .
A.popular B.dangerous C.scientific D.unsatisfactory
2.Which group made progress earlier than other groups in increasing the amount of daily exercise?
A.The first group. B.The second group.
C.The third group. D.The control group.
3.The reason why those improving their nutrition first failed to meet the levels of fitness after a year might be that .
A.they might be very lazy
B.they wouldn’t like to change their behavior
C.it is much harder to change physical activity
D.they might put on weight before changing their physical activity
4.Which of the following does the author probably approve of?
A.Pairing diet and exercise changes.
B.Becoming more physically active first.
C.Changing diet and exercise following a fixed order.
D.Changing diet first and placing more importance on it.
When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming many things. Sometimes, I wished I was an astronaut going up into space, finding new planets and jumping around in a cool space suit. Other times, I imagined being a cowboy in the Wild West, wearing stylish cowboy boots. On other occasions, I pretended to be a famous footballer, using my skills to score lots of goals for my team.
Looking back, I realize that imagination is a wonderful thing. I was able to create entire environments and scenarios in my head, using nothing more than my brain, and to be able to adapt things in my everyday surroundings to fit the specific story of the day. Growing up with siblings (兄弟姐妹) also helped, as it meant that even bigger stories could be created, combining our ideas and putting our thoughts into action. It also allowed for more varieties in the stories, as sometimes I could be the hero while on other occasions, I would be the bad guy.
One of my all-time favorite memories as a kid was playing in my back garden. I played the role of Indiana Jones, which cleaned up at the cinema at that time, with my younger sister as my assistant and my brother as a bad person. We used everything in our garden, from the path to the fence, as part of the storyline to create obstacles that needed to be overcome, and we would keep the story going for hours!
My personal favorite game was Indiana Jones and the Stolen Easter Eggs, where my brother hid small chocolate eggs around the garden and my sister and I had to find them by answering questions or solving a puzzle. It was difficult, but eventually we found all the eggs and shared them together.
Since then, I have seen many great things and met many amazing people. The elements of fun and varieties of my creative imaginations are what I try to bring into every part of my positive life. So I can enjoy sharing with and hearing about other people’s stories, too.
1.What do we know about the author from his childhood?
A.He enjoyed living a life full of freedom.
B.He was longing to experience adventurous things.
C.He was always imagining a bright life for his future.
D.He had a clear picture of what he would do after growing up.
2.Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “scenarios” in Paragraph 2?
A.experiences B.situations
C.positions D.excuses
3.From the passage, we know that Indiana Jones was .
A.an astronaut B.a famous footballer
C.a hot film D.a very popular book
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.My Creative Imagination. B.My Childhood.
C.My Positive Life Today. D.My Pride in Myself.
This summer’s top four European music festivals
LONDON
LOVEBOX
Where: Victoria Park
When: July 15-16
No other country does a festival like the British and few festivals are as fun as Lovebox in Hackney’s Victoria Park. Dancing, disco balls, and more dancing. Don’t miss local acts Stormzy, Kano and Katy B who represent our homegrown talent. Good food is at the heart of Lovebox: go on an empty stomach to taste pizza from Voodoo Ray’s, hamburgers from Le Bun and cheese sandwiches from The Cheese Truck.
BUDAPEST
SZIGET
Where: Obudai-sziget
When: 10-17 August
On an island in the middle of the Danube is one of Europe’s most atmospheric festivals. 40,000 people crowd into 266-acres（英亩）of woodland for a week-long party. This year’s big-name acts will hold you there all day or you could check out the riverside beach, or the artworks there.
PARIS
ROCK EN SEINE
Where: Domaine National de Saint-Cloud
When: August 26-28
Rock and roll and Paris aren’t typical partners but Rock en Seine puts them together with excitement. As this is a great event where there’s even an art exhibition. All this plus wonderful views of the Parisian skyline (地平线) and Marie Antoinette’s rose garden.
BERLIN
LOLLAPALOOZA
Where: Treptower Park
When: Sept 10-11
Held in Treptower Park in the east of Berlin, 60,000 mostly local people come for the rock music and the friendly atmosphere — kids are just as welcome as grown-ups. Take a break from the music to seek out the rose garden. Keep it going all night in some of Berlin’s coolest clubs in neighbouring Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg.
1.Which of the following festivals lasts the longest?
A.Lollapalooza in Berlin. B.Rock en Seine in Paris.
C.Lovebox in London. D.Sziget in Budapest.
2.What is the characteristic of the Lollapalooza music festival?
A.Some of its performers are homegrown talents.
B.It combines rock’n’roll with an art exhibition.
C.Many works of art are used for decoration.
D.Most of the people attending it are locals.
3.Where can you go if you’re particularly interested in rock music?
A.Berlin and Paris. B.London and Paris.
C.Budapest and Berlin. D.London and Budapest.
假设你是李华，你所在的学校将于3月7日在学校报告厅举办关于垃圾分类的班会，希望外教Dr. Phillips参加班会并做一个演讲，请写一封邀请信，内容包括：
1. 班会的时间、地点；
2. 班会主题、意义。
注意：1. 词数100左右。
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 开头结尾已经写好，不计收入总词数。
Dear Dr. Phillips,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
When a lion was asleep, a little mouse began running up and down beside him. This soon wakes up the lion. He was very angry, and caught the mouse in his paws.
"Forgive me, please." cried the little mouse. "I may be some use to you someday." The lion was amusing at these words. He thought, "What could this little mouse help me?" However, he lifted up her paws, allows him to get away.
A few days later on, the lion was caught in a trap. The hunters wanted to take him live to the king, so they tied him to a tree and went away to look for a truck.
Just then a little mouse passed by, and saw the lion, who were lying in despair. He went up to him, and soon chewed away the ropes. "Was I not right?" asked the little mouse.
