Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?
The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.
The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either. The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons (神经细胞), making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what’s going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done.
So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full ability for creative problem solving? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.
1.According to the author, we are more creative when we are _______.
|
A．focused |
B．awake |
C．Relaxed |
D．busy |
2.What does the author imply about newspapers?
|
A．They are solution providers. |
|
B．They are normally full of bad news. |
|
C．They are a source of inspiration. |
|
D．They are more educational than websites. |
3.By “tune into your wandering mind” (in Para. 2), the author means “_______”.
|
A．wander into the wild |
|
B．listen to a beautiful tune |
|
C．stop concentrating on anything |
|
D．switch to the traffic channel |
4.The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______.
|
A．summarize past experiences |
|
B．offer practical suggestions |
|
C．advocate diverse ways of life |
|
D．establish a routine for the future |
It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland’s oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women’s Day.
The document was discovered buried in the university archives (档案) by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: “We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus (校评议委员会) at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn’t know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university’s higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote.”
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
1.Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted _______.
|
A．to carry out a research project there |
|
B．to set up a medical institute there |
|
C．to study medicine there |
|
D．to deliver lectures there |
2.Lis Smith found Sophia’s letter to St Andrews University _______.
|
A．by pure chance |
|
B．in the school office |
|
C．with her supporters’ help |
|
D．while reading history books |
3.Sophia’s letter resulted in the establishment of _______.
|
A．the London School of Medicine for Women |
|
B．a degree programme for women |
|
C．a system of medical education |
|
D．the University of Berne |
4.When did St Andrews University begin to take full-time women students?
|
A．In 1873. |
B．In 1874. |
C．In 1877. |
D．In 1892. |
How is it that siblings (兄弟姐妹) can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family. The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later. The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival. The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too. One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father.
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918. But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others’ lives. Dr. Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings. The reason for this might be that the later children aren’t getting the same one-on-one time with parents. But that doesn’t mean that the younger children have problems with language development. Later-borns don’t enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”.
A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially. Love-hate relationships were common among the children. Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs.
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age. Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third. Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters. A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents.
1.The underlined part “in a different family” (in Para. 1) means “_______”.
|
A．in a different family environment |
|
B．in a different family tradition |
|
C．in different family crises |
|
D．in different families |
2.In terms of language development, later-borns ________.
|
A．get their parents’ individual guidance |
|
B．learn a lot from their elder siblings |
|
C．experience a lot of difficulties |
|
D．pick up words more quickly |
3.What was found about fights among siblings?
|
A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing. |
|
B．Siblings in some families fought frequently. |
|
C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships. |
|
D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights. |
4.The word “feminine” (in Para. 4) means “_______”.
|
A．having qualities of parents |
|
B．having qualities of women |
|
C．having defensive qualities |
|
D．having extraordinary qualities |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Animation means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.
__1__ But not until this century have we managed to capture it, to record it, and in the case of animation, to reinterpret it and recreate it. __2__
In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters you create do exactly what you want them.
A famous early cartoon character was Felix, the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in American in the early nineteen twenties. __3__ He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.
Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. __4__ Popeye, the Sailorman and his girl friend Olive Oyl were born at the Max Fleischer studios in 1933.
But to be an animator, you don't have to be a professional. __5__ All you have to do is draw directly on to blank film and then run a projector.
|
A．To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector. |
|
B．It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. |
|
C．Felix was a marvelous cat. |
|
D．From earliest times, people have always been fascinated by movement. |
E. The moving picture industry really experienced a trough (低谷期), and then achieved the fabulous（难以置信的） success.
F. Felix, the lovely cat, makes our audience laugh all the time.
G. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928.
A disheveled (头发凌乱的) man appeared in court Thursday on charges of murdering a Chinese woman whose fight with her attacker was seen on webcam(摄像头) by her boyfriend in China. Police refused to release any details about the crime or its possible motive.
The body of York University student Liu Qian, 23, of Beijing, was found Friday in her apartment in Toronto a few hours after her boyfriend witnessed the attack, police said.
She was found undressed from the waist down but there were no obvious signs of sexual attack or trauma (创伤) severe enough to kill her. Police say it may be weeks before the results of an autopsy (尸体解剖) are known.
Brian Dickson, 29, stood before the court in a wrinkled white shirt and blue jeans as a charge of first- degree murder was read out. He did not enter a plea. His case was held over until April 26.
Dickson was arrested Wednesday. Police only announced his name and his age and asked the media not to publish any photos of Dickson, saying it could compromise the investigation. Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella declined to respond to the request further.
Liu’s father, Liu Jianhui, who arrived from China after being informed of his daughter’s death, thanked authorities for their quick action.
“I sincerely thank the people concerned with my daughter’s case,” he told reporters after the arrest. “Our daughter was studying very hard.”
Police released no motive or details about Dickson, but one friend described the Toronto man as an aspiring actor.
Patricia Tomasi, a friend of Dickson’s, told The Associated Press that she acted in a play at a local theater in Toronto with Dickson in 2007.
“He doesn’t seem like the type but that’s what they always say,” Tomasi said. “He’s tall with boyish good looks. I don’t know much about him except that he wanted to be an actor.”
Dickson attended York University where he studied global politics, but did not earn a degree from there.
He later worked for the Atlantic Council of Canada (ACC), where he served as an assistant to the president Juilie Lindhout. According to his biography on a newsletter from the Atlantic Council of Canada, Dickson has also been a running instructor and has been involved with Developments in Literacy, a Pakistani aid organization that raises money for children in Pakistan.
A statement from the Atlantic Council of Canada on Thursday said it was not council policy to comment on staff, but it confirmed that Dickson had been an intern(实习生) with the council from September 29, 2008, until March 27, 2009.
Liu was chatting with her boyfriend, Meng Xianchao, by webcam at about 1 am. Friday when a man knocked on the door, police said.
Meng reported seeing a struggle break out between the two before Liu’s webcam was shut off. Meng contacted other friends in Toronto who in turn called police.
The victim’s father, Liu Jianhui, said his daughter studied at Beijing City University before moving to Canada, where she met Meng.
Liu Qian’s laptop computer, webcam and mobile phone were taken from the apartment the night of the attack, police said. Police said the online chat was on a live streaming camera and was not recorded, though investigators were trying to figure out if there was any way they could recover it.
York University, whose campus is located near one of Toronto’s rougher neighborhoods, is one of Canada’s largest universities with more than 53,000 undergraduate and graduate students. About 3,200 of York’s students come from more than 150 foreign countries, the university’s website says.
1.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
|
A．York University students come from over 150 foreign countries. |
|
B．Dickson was a graduate of York University where he studied global politics. |
|
C．The passage does not mention the reason why Dickson murdered Liu Qian. |
|
D．ACC wouldn’t make any comments on staff even if they committed a crime. |
2.The underlined word in paragraph 8 probably means ______.
|
A．a successful actor |
B．a gifted actor |
|
C．a common actor |
D．an ambitious actor |
3.Why did police ask the media not to publish any photos of Dickson?
|
A．Worrying about bad influences on the investigation. |
|
B．Not intending to give out any information about Dickson. |
|
C．Not confirming whether Dickson had killed Liu Qian. |
|
D．Wanting to protect their citizen for fear of losing face. |
4.What can be inferred from the text?
|
A．Developments in Literacy raises money for all children |
|
B．Seeing the struggle, Meng contacted Toronto police. |
|
C．Dickson had no bad records before the murder. |
|
D．Investigators could recover the chat record online. |
Traditional fairytales(童话) are being given up by parents because they are too scary for their young children, a study found．
Research uncovered that one in five parents has got rid of old literature such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favor of more modern books．
One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the gruesome details of Little Red Riding Hood．
And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplesliltshin to their kids as the themes of the story are kidnapping and killing．
Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it forgives stealing．
The survey of 2,000 adults was completed to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM （ 格林童话剧） , which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six drama series based on traditional fairytales．
The survey found a quarter of parents questioned wouldn’t consider reading fairytales to their kids．
And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn’t send a good message to their children as it describes a young woman doing housework all day．
Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to calm children down and send them off to sleep soundly．But as we see in GMMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children．As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five - year - old child could take them too literally．Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales as we see in GRIMM, good will defeat evil and there is always a moral to the story．"
The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares．The most popular book read at bedtime is now 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle.
However half of parents said traditional tales are "more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffato, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books．
1.Classical works for children are being avoided by parents they think .
|
A．they contain unmoral themes |
|
B．they are terrifying |
|
C．they encourage stealing, kidnapping and killing |
|
D．they are tired of answering questions |
2.What does the underlined word "gruesome" mean?
|
A．Very horrible |
B．Very amusing |
|
C．Very disappointing |
D．Very amazing |
3.Which stories are the popular bedtime stories that parents like to tell their children now?
|
A．Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Cinderella |
|
B．The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Little Red Riding Hood. |
|
C．The Very Hungry Caterpillar andMr. Men |
|
D．Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Cinderella |
4.According to Steve Hornsey , adults can see innocence in a fairy tale but a 5-year-old child might ______．
|
A．think it is different from the reality |
|
B．dislike it because it is scary |
|
C．believe exactly what the tale says |
|
D．feel there is a moral to the story |
