Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.
Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the left hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.
No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.
Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.
1. What did the scientists find after studying works of art made at different times in history?
A. The art began from 1,500 B.C.
B. The works of art ended in the 1950s.
C. Most people shown in the works of art are right-handed.
D. Most people shown in the works of art are left-handed.
2.How many people in the world are left-handed now?
A. About 10%-15%. B. About 50%.
C. About 40%. D. The passage doesn’t tell us.
3.What is the left hand for most people used to do?
A. It’s used to
work with things.
B. It’s used to find or hold things.
C. It’s used to make a person’s eyes work together.
D. It’s the centre for thinking and doing problems.
4.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.
B. Today children are not made to use their right hands only.
C. No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.
D. Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.
5.The best TITLE for this passage is _______.
A. Scientists’ New InventionsB. Left-handed People
C. How Brains Control HandsD. Which Hand
I love my Blackberry mobile phone – it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my computer, as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. However, I know there are times when I need to move away from these things and truly communicate with others.
I teach a course called History Matters in college. My goals for the class include a deep discussion of historical subjects and ideas. Because I want students to fully study the material and discuss with each other in the classroom, I have a rule – no computers, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule, some of them were not happy.
Most students think my reasons for this rule include negative experiences in the past when students made wrong use of technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. I’ve seldom had students make wrong use of technology in my classes; however, I have been e-mailed by students while they were in other teachers’ classrooms.
Some students think that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. As I noted above, I love technology and try to keep up with it.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversations. Interruptions (中断) by technology often break students’ thoughts and make them depend too much on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep in themselves for ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and to make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I have been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations (评价) show student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize with deep conversation and difficult tasks, they learn at a deeper level – a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I am not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I will continue my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.
1.The writer’s rule for his History Matters class is ____.
A. discussing historical ideas deeply
B. studying and discussing the materials
C. leaving technology out of the classroom
D. making right use of technology in class
2.The word “negative” in Paragraph 3 means ____.
A. similar B. unforgettable C. special D. unpleasant
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Students make right use of technology in other teachers’ classes.
B. The classroom is one of the good places to have deep conversations.
C. The writer encourages
students to agree with others after discussion.
D. Students are unhappy with the writer’s way of teaching history.
4.The writer wants to tell us that ____.
A. technology has different influences in different classes in college
B. technology makes it difficult to have true communication in class
C. history classes can help students to develop their deep thinking
D. it is time for him to give up his teaching method in history class
The phone rings. It’s a friend who wants to tell you his or her latest health problems. You hate to be impolite and cut your friend off, but what can you do? Stephanie Winston, author of Stephanie Winston’s Best Organizing Tips, offers his advice:
Don’t ask questions like “What’s new?” They give the information that you have time to talk. After “hello”, get right to the heart of the matter.
Time your calls wisely. If you make a call right before lunch or dinner, or at the end of the workday, people chat less.
Set a time limit. Start with, “Hi, I’ve only got a few minutes, but I wanted to talk to you about….” Or, “Gee, I’d love to talk more, but I only have a couple of minutes before I have to leave.”
Jump on a pause. Even the most talkative caller has to pause now and then. Quickly say, “It has been great talking with you.” Then end the conversation.
Forget niceties. Some people just don’t take a hint. Cut your caller off and say, “I’d like to talk to you longer, but I’m afraid I have no enough time. Good bye.” Then hang up.
Find “a partner in crime”. If nothing else works, ask someone in your home to help you. For example, one woman gives a sign to her husband, who shouts, “Jane, I think the roast chicken is burning.”
Avoid the phone completely. Use an answering machine to screen calls. If you have an important message for a chatterbox, leave the message when he or she isn’t in.
1.What’s the good time to make a call so that people can chat less?
A. After lunch or dinner.
B. In the middle o
f the workday.
C. Before lunch or dinner.
D. At the beginning of the workday.
2.“Finding a partner in crime” means ______.
A. finding someone to answer the call
B. getting right to the heart of the matter
C. telling the caller you are just cooking
D. asking someone to help you end the call
3.What’s Winston’s advice about?
A. How to talk on the phone.
B. How to make calls wisely.
C. How to make a phone call.
D. How to keep phone calls short.
The Westwood Middle School has decided to hold a blood drive (献血活动), and you can help.
Help with The Blood Drive |
The School is holding a blood drive for teachers, parents, and town people. We need everyone’s help to make it a success. That includes you! We need to collect 50 units of blood. That means 65 people are needed to come to the drive. |
How You Can Help |
Pick up information brochures (小册子) in the school office. Pass them out to your parents, teachers and any person who is healthy and at least 17 years old. |
When and Where to Go |
The blood drive will take place on Tuesday, October 21, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm, in the school canteen. |
1.How many people are needed for the blood drive?
A. 50.B. 65. C. 17. D. 21.
2.Students can pick up information brochures ____.
A. in the school officeB. at the school gate
C. in the school canteenD. on the school playground
3.When will the blood drive take place?
A. On September 20.B. On September 21.
C. On October 20. D. On October 21.
An old woman has two large pots, one on each end of a pole（扁担）. She carried the pole with the pots（壶）__ __ her neck.
One of the pots had a crack（裂缝）in it while the other pot was perfect and always filled a full pot of water. At the end of the long __ _ from the well（井）to the house, the cracked pot _ only half-full left.
For two years this happened daily, with the woman bringing home only __ ___ pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was _ __. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection.
One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman _ __ the well:“I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your __ __.”
The old woman smiled:“Did you notice that there are ___ __ on your side of the path, but not on __ __ pot’s side? That’s because I have __ _ known about your crack, so I __ __ flower seeds（籽）on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you ___ __ them.” She added, “ For _ _ years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate（装饰）the table. Without you, being just the 
___ ___ you are, I would not have this beauty.”
Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these __ _ that make our lives together so interesting and meaningful.
1.A. crossB. across C. past D. through
2.A. travelB. rideC. walkD. trip
3.A. arrived B. heldC. reachedD. meant
4.A. one or twoB. one and a halfC. twoD. half and one
5.A. proudB. sadC. happy D. worried
6.A. with B. fromC. byD. in
7.A. field B. sideC. wellD. house
8.A. seedsB. potsC. plants D. flowers
9.A. otherB. the otherC. anotherD. others
10.A. neverB. everC. always D. often
11.A. tookB. madeC. plantedD. kept
12.A. waterB. seeC. visitD. understand
13.A. manyB. a fewC. twoD. three
14.A. roadB. sideC. pathD. way
15.A. decorations B. seedsC. flowersD. cracks
--- Millie, do you mind if I turn on the TV?
--- ________. My grandma is sleeping now.
A. No, of course not B. Yes, please C. You’d better not D. That’s OK
