Once upon a time, there lived a wise man. Everyone respected him. His son, however, was very lazy and did nothing all day.
The wise man was worried about his son’s future. One day, he said to his son, “I want you to go and find some treasure. I have drawn a map to guide you.” Then he handed his son a bag. Inside the bag were clothes, some food, a little money and the map.
The son set out on his long journey the next day. He had to travel across forests, rivers and mountains. Along the way, he met a lot of people. He was helped by some with food and by some with shelter. He also came across robbers who tried to rob him. He saw changing landscapes (风景) and experienced different kinds of weather.
Finally, after a long year, he reached the treasure’s location. He spent two days looking and digging for the treasure, but found nothing.
Disappointed, he headed back to his home. On his way back, he experienced the same changing landscapes and seasons. Sometimes, he would stop to enjoy the beauty of nature. He also learned to hunt and make meals. He had to fix his own clothes and shelter himself. He was now able to tell time by the position of the sun and protect himself from wild animals. He met the same people who had helped him earlier. This time, he stayed and helped them in order to repay them.
When he reached home, he apologized to his father for not finding the treasure.
“There wasn’t any treasure in the very first place, my son,” the father answered with a smile. “But I think you have found your life’s true purpose.”
1.What did the wise man ask his son to do?
A.Draw a map that would guide him to treasure. B.Travel to a faraway place to look for treasure.
C.Make a living by selling clothes and food. D.See the world’s forests and mountains.
2.It can be inferred(推断) that the son _________ during his journey.
A.suffered from hunger, cold and other dangers
B.chose a guide that would easily take him to the treasure
C.had to rob others for food and clothes
D.did not enjoy the natural scenery that he saw
3.What was different about the son’s journey back home?
A.The landscapes were changing. B.He found treasure and became rich.
C.He mastered many life skills. D.He learned how to be a wise man.
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The son took clothes, some food, a little money and the map with him.
B.It took the son a long year to reach the treasure’s location.
C.The son experienced changing landscapes and four seasons twice before he reached home.
D.The son didn’t find the treasure because he lost his way.
5.What was the father’s purpose of setting this task for his son?
A.To make his son do some interesting activities. B.To see whether his son could deal with difficulties.
C.To test his son’s ability to live in the wild. D.To help his son find his life’s true purpose.
Fear may be in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.
Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting (收缩) and pumping blood around their bodies, compared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed. Scientists say the results suggest that the heart is able to influence how the brain reacts to a fearful event, depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.
Sarah Garfinkel at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School said: "Our study shows for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart."
The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces. Dr. Garfinkel said, "The study showed that fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed. Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don't see-and guide whether we see fear."
To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner (扫描仪) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person's feeling of fear.
"We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and brain 'speak' to each other to change our feelings and reduce fear, "Dr. Garfinkel said.
"We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety (焦虑) disorders, and also for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder."
1.What is the finding of the study?
A.One's heart influences how he feels fear.
B.Fear is a result of one's heartbeat.
C.Fear can't be felt because of one's relaxed heartbeat.
D.One's fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear.
2.The study was carried out by studying________.
A.volunteers' heartbeats when they saw terrible pictures
B.the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditions
C.volunteers' reactions to horrible pictures and results from their brain scans
D.different pictures shown to volunteers and their heartbrain communication
3.Which of the following is closest in meaning to "mechanism" in Paragraph 6?
A.Order. B.System. C.Machine. D.Treatment.
4.This study may contribute to________.
A.treating anxiety and stress better
B.explaining the cycle of fear and anxiety
C.finding the key to the heartbrain communication
D.understanding different fears in our hearts and heads
Alone in the wilderness. Nothing but jungle. A word of shadow with the rays of light falling like blonde hair from the crowns of the giant trees. Jungle in the middy sun. Everything motionless. Not a sound from sky or earth. Complete silence. Only some coconuts falling, very far away. The world reduced to the soft touch of cool grass along my naked back, and a sweet smell of rich soil and vegetation. Lying with closed eyes beside my heavy fruit and firewood, I enjoyed the feeling of fresh blood streaming through every part of my body and fresh jungle air filling every corner of my body.
Resting motionless, I could see the sun through my closed eyelids, alone in the sky, as lonely as I, and as motionless and silent as everything else. The earth had surely stopped turning and somewhere on this planet there was supposed to be noisy traffic in busy streets. What a crazy, unbelievable thought!
Another coconut fell, to make the world come to a complete standstill. I had to roll over onto my stomach to feel that at least I could move and make noises. Then I found company (陪伴). A little brown ant was struggling (挣扎) to find its way with a bit of dry straw (草) through the jungle of leaves and grass below my nose. I wondered if I could give the little fellow a lift with its burden (重负), but it showed not the slightest sign of tiredness and struggled on with all six legs, head first or head last, waving its feelers energetically as if the trip had just started. Who ever saw a tired ant? Tiredness, disagreeable tiredness, is impossible to hunted animals, slaves and modern man. It is as great an effort for an office to walk five blocks with a heavy brief-case as it is for a farmer to cross a valley with a goat on his back. It is as hard to get up and climb or run when you have been seated for years as it is to get up and walk when you have been in bed for months. The body is strange. Spare it, and you get really tired for almost nothing; use it, and almost nothing makes you really tired.
I rose to my feet. I had heard a horse neighing down in the valley. Above me, on the open highland places, there were wild horses. But down in the valley there was never a horse if there wasn't a man on it. Somebody was making his way up the valley and my wife was alone.
1.What's the right order of the following events?
① I heard a horse neighing down in the valley.
② I went to the jungle.
③ I found an ant carrying a bit of dry straw.
④ I lay on the ground to have a break.
⑤ I picked fruits and chopped firewood.
A.②③⑤①④ B.⑤③②④① C.②⑤④③① D.⑤④③②①
2.How does the author feel about the ant?
A.He admired its behavior toward work.
B.He was amazed at its tireless efforts.
C.He had pity on the little ant.
D.He was happy to have its company.
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the writer would probably _____ .
A.work harder than before B.talk to the man on the horse
C.make his way home D.stay in the valley to enjoy the beautiful view
Taking online classes is becoming increasingly popular, but students have different opinions about it.
Wang Qi, 14 | I love taking online courses. They give me a lot more choices and freedom. We can choose to learn whatever we want. Also, online classes enable us to study whenever and wherever we want, which is very convenient. |
Wu Jun, 13 | I don’t think taking online classes is a good way to study. There are many temptations (诱惑) on the internet. Students can be distracted (使分心) from their courses easily. The whole learning process is not as organized as it is in the classroom. |
Zhou Siya, 13 | Online classrooms are beneficial (有益的). We might feel more focused on (集中于)learning when we are alone in front of a computer with no one to distract us. In addition, taking courses online also means we can have more time to use a computer, which is a good way to practice our computer skills. |
Li Chunjie, 14 | I think the idea of taking online courses is crazy. It can increase our exposure (接触) to computers and the radiation (辐射) from them could do harm to the human body, especially our eyes. Also, sitting in front of a computer for a long time without exercising can be harmful to our health. |
1.How many students support online learning?
A.One. B.Two. C.Three. D.Four.
2.What’s NOT Zhou Siya’s opinion about taking online courses?
A.Students can feel more focused on learning. B.Students can practice their computer skills.
C.No one can distract students from the courses. D.Students can choose to learn whatever they want.
3.According to Li Chunjie, taking online courses________.
A.can be beneficial in many ways B.causes a lot of distractions
C.will make students go crazy D.is harmful to students’ health
When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist (地质学家) and loved to go on walks to___________ stones. One day, he bought us _________ and asked us to go to the mountain with him and carry the stones.
The whole day we_________ around. Every now and then he put___________ in our bags. We were a bit___________ that he also took some stones out from our bags at times. But we thought he had just found ___________ stones than the ones we already had. Still, when we returned to the house, we were very_________ . The backpacks were so_________ that we felt great relief(轻松) when we took them off._________ uncle’s backpack was half empty.
“Why did you give us so many stones?” we asked.
“I didn’t. You did,” he said. “You didn’t know it, but I gave you a little attitude (态度) ________ today. Whenever you were complaining, I added a stone to your bags. Whenever you talked about something with positive (积极的) thinking, I __________a stone. And now look at your backpacks.”
The bags were almost ________ .
“Your negative (负面的) thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your____________ just like those stones in a backpack. The more negative thoughts you have, the __________ your mind is.”
With great love, our uncle taught us one of the most important __________ in life – the power of attitude.
1.A.carry B.collect C.research D.kick
2.A.baskets B.ropes C.instruments D.backpacks
3.A.climbed B.jumped C.ran D.walked
4.A.leaves B.stones C.grasses D.sticks
5.A.surprised B.interested C.relaxed D.disappointed
6.A.harder B.better C.stronger D.weaker
7.A.sad B.ill C.tired D.excited
8.A.heavy B.light C.big D.small
9.A.So B.As C.Since D.Yet
10.A.power B.stress C.test D.question
11.A.put off B.took over C.took out D.put back
12.A.full B.empty C.messy D.smooth
13.A.brain B.memory C.mind D.back
14.A.clearer B.easier C.better D.heavier
15.A.suggestions B.lessons C.purposes D.cases
— Sorry, it's already 6 o'clock. I have to be off for an important dinner.
— OK. .
A.It couldn't be better B.You really have me there.
C.Take your time D.Let's call it a day
