Unconfident children can improve their performance in math tests simply by saying nice things to themselves, a study suggests.
A total of 212 fourth to sixth graders, aged between 9 to 13 years old, took part in the research. The children completed a math test in two parts. At the end of the first half, researchers asked the first group of kids to talk to themselves about the amount of effort they would put into the second half of the test before carrying on. The children quietly told themselves: ''I will do my very best. '' Another group was told to consider their ability, by repeating the phrase: ''I am very good at this. '' The children were instructed to write down their given phrase, and repeat it to themselves while working on the problems, particularly when they found the work challenging. The rest of the children acted as the control group, and weren't required to say anything. A few days before completing the test, all the kids completed a survey on how they viewed their own and others' abilities.
Compared with kids who didn't do what is known as self-talking, those with low self-confidence who spoke about the effort they'd make did better in the second half of the test. The data led the researchers to conclude children who struggle with negative thoughts about their competence could improve their achievements in school by telling themselves they will put effort into a task.
However, the team said they did not find the same result among children with low self-confidence who spoke to themselves about ability, for self-talk about effort is the key. Meanwhile, they pointed out the findings may not relate to children of other ages, and more research is needed to explore this.
1.How was the research conducted?
A.By telling students to talk about their effort. B.By comparing three groups of students.
C.By instructing students to repeat phrases. D.By telling students not to say anything.
2.What conclusion did the researchers draw?
A.Students may benefit from talking about effort.
B.Students should talk about effort in the tests.
C.Students can benefit from talking about ability.
D.Self-talking helps all students do better in tests.
3.We can infer from the last paragraph that the research team is _________.
A.careless B.cautious
C.stubborn D.competitive
4.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A.Entertainment. B.Health.
C.Education. D.Sports.
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has an ancient competition with Chongqing, a city to its south-east. Residents of Chongqing accused their Chengdu cousins of being pompous (自大的). The people of Chongqing were hotheads, Chengdu residents shot back. Both cities share a love of spice-laden Sichuan cuisine, which in recent decades has occupied Chinese dinner tables. But they are at war over which has the best Sichuan hotpot—a type of DIY-cooking that involves boiling vegetables and slices of meat with chillies and numbing peppercorns.
A private museum in Chongqing, opened several years ago, makes the case for the Chongqing-style hotpot. It describes how it developed from a method used to make cheap offcuts of meat taste delicious. But Chengdu is playing catch-up. In January the city sold a plot of land on condition that the developer build a hotpot museum on part of it.
The two cities are among many in China with their own styles of hotpot. Hotpot restaurants in China are more profitable than other kinds. Haidilao, a well-known Sichuan-based hotpot chain, raised nearly $1bn when it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (股票交易所) in September.
Not all Chinese warm to hotpot. Some older Sichuanese refuse to be connected with it. They complain that it is causing overuse of chilli in other dishes that cover up the original genuine flavours.
But Chengdu’s plans for a museum suggest that Sichuan hotpot is not only growing in popularity, but is also becoming symbolic. If it can set the West on fire, officials may hope it will become a delicious new source of Chinese soft power. There will be plenty of glory for both Chengdu and Chongqing to take pride in if that happens.
1.Why are Chengdu and Chongqing competing with each other?
A.Because Chengdu people think Chongqing people are pompous.
B.Because Chengdu residents like to shoot back in battles.
C.Because they both think they are better at eating spicy food.
D.Because they both believe they have the best Sichuan hotpot.
2.What is the purpose of building a hotpot museum in Chengdu?
A.To compete with Chongqing. B.To advertise Sichuan cuisine.
C.To show their love for hotpot. D.To keep the hotpot tradition.
3.What can we infer about hotpot from the last paragraph?
A.The two cities have competed only in recent decades.
B.More hotpot museums will be built in the future.
C.Hotpot is already a source of Chinese soft power.
D.People hold a high expectation for hotpot culture.
4.Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Growing Popularity of Hotpot in Two Cities
B.Two Cities’ War Over Tastiest Sichuan Hotpot
C.“No Hotpot, No Happiness” True in Food Business
D.Private Museum in Chongqing Opened First
Paris is a museum city. There are hundreds of them, big and small. But, most importantly, they are excellent, some of the best on the planet. From the Louvre to the Musée d’Orsay to the Centre Pompidou, you could spend a lifetime wandering the halls of the city’s great museums. Here are some of the best museums in Paris.
The Louvre
The world’s ultimate museum is also the biggest one and the most visited. The 35,000 art objects on display are all overshadowed by one single painting—Mona Lisa, in the Renaissance era.
Jeu de Paume
Set in the Tuileries Gardens next to the Louvre, Jeu de Paume’s past lives were of a tennis court and then a museum which housed Impressionist art. Today it is Paris’s main photography and video museum. It also occasionally shows art-house films.
Musée d’Orsay
Housed in a former railway station on the Left Bank of the Seine, the museum opened in 1986 and today houses the planet’s largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artworks. If you like 19th-century natural landscapes with rural lives and tastes, this is the place to take it all in.
Musée du Quai Branly
As Paris’s main home to non-European art, objects, and culture, this Jean Nouvel-designed museum exhibits a collection of 3,500 pieces, many of which were taken from various countries during the vast period of French Colonialism. There are objects from Quebec and Louisiana from the time when the regions were under French control. There are also Indian sculptures, masks from West Africa and other aesthetic delights.
1.Which is the best and most admired exhibit in the Louvre?
A.Mona Lisa. B.Renaissance.
C.Lady Era. D.Unknown.
2.Which museum houses Impressionist art nowadays?
A.Jeu de Paume. B.The Louvre.
C.Musée d’Orsay. D.Musée du Quai Branly.
3.Musée du Quai Branly is different from the other three in that _________.
A.it houses non-European objects B.it used to be a tennis court
C.it shows the 19th-century rural scenery D.it is Paris’s largest museum
为了共同防控新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情，学期初教育部发布了延期开学的通知，全国地行“停课不停教,停课不停学”的工作安排，学生在家进行了一个多月的网课学习。假你是光中学的李津，作为参与网课学习的一员,请你向 “China Daily”报纸所开辟的“OnlineTeaching”专栏投稿，就近期的网课学习体验谈谈线上教学的利与弊。
内容包括：1. 线上教学的利弊；
2. 个人观点与看法。
注意事项：1. 词数不少于 100 词；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
3. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。参考词汇：新型冠状病毒肺炎：COVID﹣19；
Dear Editor,
I’m Li Jin from Chen Guang Middle School.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Jin
阅读短文,按照题目要求用英语回答问题.
As my kids' summer vacation comes to an end, I find myself wanting to spend every moment with them. This past week I've been feeling guilty every time I schedule something that doesn't involve them, so I haven’t been doing much for myself. But the other day, I had a beauty treatment that I'd scheduled for over a month. I was so looking forward to it when I scheduled it, but as it approached I thought about cancelling it.
As I was leaving home, I told my kids how I was going to miss them and that I would hurry back. My daughter stopped her game, looked up at me and said, ''Oh, Mother, just go. You need to get your mood up again. '' '' Getting your mood up again'' is my daughter's way of telling me to leave home and come back with a better version of myself because it was taking a heavy toll on her too.
In that one sentence, she was telling me that she noticed I’d been running on fumes(烦恼). She was letting me know she could feel my moodiness and irritation that stemmed from not taking the time for me because I was trying to so hard to be present for her and her brothers.
It occurred to me that I'd been neglecting care for myself because I thought my kids should come first. However, in reality, my kids just want me to be happy, even if that happiness means I'm not with them all the time. Our kids would rather have parents who are smiling and feel somewhat rested than spend their days listening to their parents sigh and complain.
1.Why did the author consider cancelling the beauty treatment? (no more than 12 words)
2.How do you understand the underlined part in paragraph 2? (no more than 10words)
3.What was the author's problem originally caused by? (no more than 10 words)
4.What did the author finally realize? (no more than 10 words)
5.What do you learn from the author's story? (no more than 20 words)
Humans once opposed coffee and refrigeration. Here’s why we often hate new stuff.
Humans have a habit of deliberately delaying their own progress. From coffee to mechanical refrigeration to genetically altered food, history is littered with innovations that caused resistance before they become fixtures in everyday life. But the past 600 years of human history help to explain why humans often oppose new technologies and why that pattern of opposition continues to this day. Calestous Juma, a professor of Harvard University, explores this phenomenon in his latest book, Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies.
Among Juma’s claims is that people do not fear innovation simply because the technology is new, but because innovation often means losing a piece of their identity or lifestyle, and separating people from nature or their sense of purpose—— two things that are fundamental to the human experience.
Juma identified in his research three key sources of opposition to innovation: those with commercial interests in existing products, those who identify with existing products, and those who might lose power as a result of change. The first group is perhaps the most obvious. Many industries have been disrupted by innovation. Just take a look at the pointless efforts of music publishers to stop the shift to digital music. Some consumers might oppose an innovation because the existing product is deeply rooted in their identity, culture or customs. Britons preferred tea time at home to sitting in a coffee shop, for example. Finally, the emergence of new technologies can also result in a shift in economic and political power, redistributing wealth and influence away from some groups, and toward others. The expansion of tractors （ 拖拉机） and other mechanical equipment reduced the need for farm labor, and the shift in population away from rural areas had significant political implications.
Humans make decisions about new innovations with their instinct rather than evidence. Opponents and enthusiasts of a new technology will often make shocking claims to support their arguments. Sometimes these claims are rooted in fact; other times they are not. People once claimed coffee could make you sterile （不育的）. Juma said beneath those arguments was typically an instinctive fear of new technologies, rather than a reasoned response. “People react intuitively, and they collect the evidence to support what they’re doing,”Juma said. “They see a new product and there is an emotional reaction to that product because it challenges their outlook on the world. This has been the story with almost every new product.”
Historically, technologists have been more concerned with the functionality of the products they create, paying less attention to the implications it may have on society at large, Juma contends. Fortunately, that may be starting to change.
1.What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 probable mean?
A.is in favour of
B.is full of
C.encourages
D.is held back
2.We can infer from the first two paragraphs that Juma’s book_____.
A.explores why history often repeats itself
B.focuses on the impact of technology on nature
C.analyzes the role of technology in social progress
D.researches the recurrence of a certain phenomenon
3.Which of the following statements is correct according to Paragraph 4?
A.A successful technological innovation can affect population flow.
B.British people have a strong sense of independence.
C.Opposition to innovation is mainly caused by loss of cultural identity.
D.Young people prefer digital music to traditional recordings.
4.In Juma’s opinion, people’s resistance to new technologies_____.
A.is a natural response
B.is not based on fact
C.arises from fear of challenges
D.reflects their prejudiced view of the world
5.It is implied in the last paragraph that technologists should give more consideration to_____.
A.the functionality of new products
B.the social usefulness of new products
C.the potential danger of new products
D.the social influence of new products
