Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent（聪明的） than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．
There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的） tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions…and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿） are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier （障碍物） before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors（祖先）, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．” says a biologist．
1.The passage mainly tells us ________．
A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains
B．the changes in brain throughout our lives
C．that men are better at spatial tasks
D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors
2.Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s
B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．
C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．
D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．
3.What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?
A．Women prefer doing many things at a time．
B．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．
C．Women do not need to tell directions．
D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．
4.Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?
A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls．
B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills
C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．
D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．
5.What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
A．Defensive． B．Persuasive． C．Supportive． D．Objective．
Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers urged, “Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were! Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into opportunity and strangers into friends.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste that helps you hang in there when the going gets tough. It is the inner voice that whispers, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist (遗传学家) who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t let up on her experiments. Work was such a deep pleasure for her that she never thought of stopping.
We are all born with wide – eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age. At 90,cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing Bach (巴赫). As the music flowed through his fingers, his bent shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As author and poet Samuel once wrote, “Years wrinkle(使生皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money, title or power. Patricia Mcllrath, retired director of the Missouri Repertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, a lawyer, long ago told me, I never made a penny until I stopped working for money.”
If we cannot do what we love as a full-time career, we can do it as a hobby. Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan, was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended her depression that had troubled her for at least 30 years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, “I am persuaded to call Layton a genius.”
We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-beens”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be.” We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses-finding pleasure in the sweet smell of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow.
1.The author mentions cellist Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that .
A. music can arouse people’s enthusiasm
B. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed
C. enthusiasm can make people feel young
D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy
2.How many examples are given in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
3.The author holds the view that .
A. enthusiastic people will never get old
B. enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life
C. enthusiasm is more important than experience
D. enthusiasm can give people more success and fame
For years, business people in Western Europe were worried. They knew they could not compete against business from the U.S. The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries
Some European people realized that the European nations need to join together to help each other. If they could forget their language differences and the differences in customs, they might become strong competition against other countries.
In 1958, six of the European countries --- Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Italy got together and decided to cooperate. They called their group the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. These countries agreed to join their resources together.
Within a few years, the European Economic Community had worked so well that its members were more prosperous than many other European nations. Soon, other nations began to realize the advantage of the Common Market. Today the Common Market includes most of the important countries in Western Europe. It is helping Western Europe to again take its place as a leader among the industrial nations of the world.
1.From the passage we know the U.S. is much richer than ________ in resources.
A. any other Western European countries B. any other country in Western Europe
C. any country in Western Europe D. every country in Europe
2.The members of the European Economic Community have developed fast because they ___.
A. share their resources and become more prosperous
B. can again take the place as a leader in the world
C. forget the differences in their languages and customs
D. have become strong competition against the U.S.
3.Which statement is true?
A. The Common Market is only a political association.
B. The Common Market is an economic and political association
C. The Common Market is only an economic association
D. The Common Market is neither an economic association nor a political one.
4.In order to ______ the Western European countries decided to cooperate.
A. join together to found a united country
B. help each other to smooth away the differences in customs
C. work and act together for common purpose
D. work together and fight against the U.S.
My husband and children think they are very lucky that they are living and that it’s Christmas again. They can’t see that we live on a dirty street in a dirty house among people who aren’t much good. But Johnny and children can’t see this. What a pity it is that our neighbours have to make happiness out of all this dirt. I decided that my children must get out of this. The money that we’ve saved isn’t nearly enough.
The McGaritys have money but they are so proud. They look down upon the poor. The McGarity girl just yesterday stood out there in the street eating from a bag of candy while a ring of hungry children watched her. I saw those children looking at her and crying in their hearts; and when she couldn’t eat any more she threw the rest down the sewer(下水道). Why , is it only because they have money? There is more to happiness than money in the world, isn’t there?
Miss Jackson who teaches at the Settlement House isn’t rich, but she knows things. She understand people. Her eyes look straight into yours when she talks with you. She can read your mind. I’d like to see the children will be like Miss Jackson when they grow up.
1.This passage mainly suggests that the writer _______.
A. is easy to get along with
B. is unhappy with the life they are living
C. is good at observing and understanding
D. is never pleased with her neighbours
2.What do you think of McGarity girl?
A. She is proud and hungry. B. She is selfish and cruel.
C. She is lonely and friendless. D. She is unhappy and misunderstood.
3.In this text, the writer tries to tell us that _______.
A. money is the key to everything
B. the more money you have, the less happy you’ll be
C. there is something more important than money
D. when talking to people we should look into their eyes
4.Pick out the one that does NOT describe the writer’s view on money.
A. Why, is it only because they have money?
B. There is more to happiness than money.
C. Miss Jackson isn’t rich, but she knows things.
D. The money we saved isn’t nearly enough.
All over my garden I’ve planted nothing but roses, sweet and — if looked at far away — bright with color like sunset clouds, I’d be very happy if anyone of my visiting friends should desire to pick and take some for their homes. I trust that any friend of mine carrying the rose would disappear into the distance feeling that his emotions had been rekindled (重燃).
A close friend came for a visit the other day. I know her to be a lover of flowers and plants. And for that reason I told her at her departure that she should pick a bunch of roses to grace her bedroom. I promised that the smell of the roses would be wafted far, far away.
That girl friend of mine, tiptoeing into the garden in high spirits, smelt here and there, but in the end she didn’t pick a single rose. I said there were so many of them that she would pick as many as she’d like to; I told her that I was not a flower farmer and didn’t make a living out of them. Saying so I raised the scissors for the sacrifice of the flowers, but she stopped me, crying no, no, no!
To cut such beautiful roses would hurt one, she said. With her hands seizing at my sleeves, she told me that by no means should they be cut. Roses are the smiling face of the earth, and who could be so iron-hearted as to destroy a smile so charming?
My mind was thoroughly shocked: the ugly earth, the rough earth, the plain earth—it is for the reason of that smile that it wins the care and pity of people
1.The underlined word “wafted” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “__________”.
A. moved B. lost C. destroyed D. felt
2.The writer plants nothing but roses in her garden probably because __________.
A. she can make money out of them
B. her friends like them
C. she enjoys the roses very much
D. the roses can rekindle her friends’ emotions
3.Why did the writer’s close friend refuse to pick a single rose?
A. Because the roses were not beautiful
B. Because she did not like this kind of roses
C. Because the writer did not want to give her any
D. Because she loved the roses very much
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. A lovely rose garden. B. The smiling face of the earth
C. The pity of people to the roses. D. A lover of flowers
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
I took home a briefcase full of troubles . As I sat down on that hot and damp 1, there seemed to be no 2to the problems hanging around in my brain . So I picked up a book , settled into a comfortable chair and 3my own special therapy (疗法): 4reading .
I 5three or four hours on two short chapters of Personal History by Vincent Sheean—tasting each paragraph , staying over a sentence , a phrase , or even a single word , building a detailed mental picture of the scene . No longer was I in Sydney , Australia , on a sticky hot night . Enjoying every word , I 6foreign journalist Vincent Sheean on a tour to China and another to Russia . I was 7in the author’s world . And when finally I put it down , my mind was totally 8.
Next morning , four words from the book—“take the long 9” were still in my mind . At my desk , I had a long-view look at my 10. Once more , super-slow-reading had given me not only 11but perspective (视角)， and helped me in my everyday affairs .
I discovered its 12years ago . Before that , if I had been really interested in a book , I would 13from page to page , 14to know what came next . Now , I decided , I had to become a miser （守财奴）with 15and stretch every sentence like a poor man spending his last dollar .
I had started with the practical object of making my book last . But by the end of the second week I began to realize 16I was getting from super-slow-reading itself . Sometimes just a particular phrase 17my attention , sometimes a sentence . I would read it slowly, analyze it , read it again—perhaps changing down into an even 18speed—and then sit for 20 minutes thinking about it before moving on . I was like a pianist 19a piece of music , phrase by phrase , practicing it , trying to discover and 20exactly what the composer(作曲家) was trying to convey.
1.A．day B．morning C．afternoon D．evening
2.A．solutions B．doubt C．wonder D．courses
3.A．tried on B．applied C．practiced D．managed
4.A．fast B．super fast C．super slow D．slow
5.A．spent B．wasted C．cost D．took
6.A．united B．attended C．attracted D．joined
7.A．found B．lost C．persuaded D．accepted
8.A．broken B．discouraged C．refreshed D．awakened
9.A．view B．care C．walk D．distance
10.A．therapy B．problems C．reading D．work
11.A．difficulty B．success C．achievement D．pleasure
12.A．use B．disadvantage C．value D．importance
13.A．look B．read C．analyze D．digest
14.A．worried B．eager C．glad D．anxious
15.A．books B．troubles C．words D．music
16.A．how well B．how long C．how many D．how much
17.A．caught B．missed C．escaped D．paid
18.A．faster B．higher C．lower D．slower
19.A．playing B．studying C．writing D．singing
20.A．realize B．recognize C．repay D．understand
