Everyone knows about straight—A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge of the Nerds(《菜鸟大反攻》)，a comedy film satirizing(讽刺)social life in college. They get high grades，all right，but only by becoming dull laborers，their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.
How，then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres?
Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the school singing group, serves on the students’ union and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has kept up A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico，was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair，and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony，he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes，plus rewarding points for A’s in two college-level course.
How do super—achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students,” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super—achieving students “Knowing how to make the most of your innate(天生的)abilities counts far more. Much more.”
In fact，Walberg says，students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them，learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down.
Hard work isn’t the whole story, either．“it’s not how long you sit there with the books open．”said one of the many—A students we interviewed. “It’s what you do while you’re sitting.” Indeed，some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates. The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.
1.What can we conclude from the first paragraph?
A．Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students
B．People have unfavorable impression on straight—A students
C．Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films
D．Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society
2.What will be talked about after the last paragraph?
A．The interviews with more students
B．The role IQ plays in learning well
C．The techniques to be better learners
D．The achievements top students make
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A．IQ is more important than hard work in study
B．The brightest students can never get low glades
C．Top students certainly achieve all-around developments
D．Students with average IQ can become super-achievers
A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget——under the name of Bowlingual——in U. S. pet stores and gift shops this summer.
Tokyo-based Takara Co. Ltd. says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year. It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August. The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan.
"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don't think they will mind spending $ 120 on this product, " the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta.
Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3 - inch long wireless microphone that is fastened to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console (控制台) that is connected to a database (数据库). The console divides each bark into six emotional types——happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire——and shows common phrases, such as "You're ticking me off," that fit the dog's emotional state.
Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation（合作）with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists.
One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats. "They are too unpredictable (反复无常) , " the marketing manager said.
1.This passage mainly tells us that Bowlingual ___________.
A．was invented in Japan B．has developed quickly
C．will be sold in America D．sells well for its price
2.The underlined word "they" in the last paragraph refers to ___________.
A．markets B．products C．plans D．cats
3.From the passage, we can see that Takara Co. Ltd. is ___________ the sale of its new product.
A．proud of B．satisfied with C．confident of D．worried about
Mini Book Excerpts（节选）
Biography
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
J. D. Salinger：A Life by Kenneth Slawenski（Random House,$27）
Mystery（疑案小说）
“You’re a smart boy. Benny’s death was no accident, and you’re the only one who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it ? ” The boy was staring stubbornly (固执地；倔强地) at his lap again.
A thought suddenly occurred to Annika, “Did you …You recognized the man in the car, didn’t you?”
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers, “Maybe,” he said quietly.
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund（Atria Books, $25. 99）
Short Stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class: Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give , and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don’t want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won’t. Some mothers love so their daughters won’t.
You Are Free by Danzy Senna（Riverhead Books,$15）
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times!’s “amusement cycling” is the most fun you can have, legally, in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half of that within a day’s drive of most cities?
Happy: And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle（Ecco,$14. 99）
1.If the readers want to know about the life of Salinger , they should buy the book published by .
A． Ecco B．Random House C．Riverhead Books D．Atria Books
2.The book Happy :And Other Bad Thoughts is intended for .
A．young children B．Disney World workers
C．middle school teachers D．parents with young children
3.Which book describes women with characters of their own?
A. You Are Free B. J. D. Salinger: A Life
C. Happy: And Other Bad Thoughts D. Red Wolf
4.After finishing the book Red Wolf, the readers would learn that .
A．the murderer got away with the crime
B．Benny died of an accident
C．the boy helped arrest the murderer
D．Annika carried out the crime
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping(录像) the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is.”
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are that it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”
1.Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ______.
A．they are busy serving food to their children
B．they are busy keeping order at the dinner table
C．they have to pay more attention to younger children
D．they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family
2.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children ______.
A．have to help their parents to serve dinner
B．get the least attention from the family
C．are often kept away from the dinner table
D．find it hard to keep up with other children
3.Lewis’ research provides an answer to the question ______.
A．why TV is important in family life
B．why parents should keep good order
C．why children in small families seem to be quieter
D．why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life
4.Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A．It is important to have the right food for children.
B．It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C．Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
D．Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.
5.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ______.
A．show the relationship between parents and children.
B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table.
C．report on the findings of a study.
D．give information about family problems.
One night this summer, on my way home from work I decided to see a movie. I knew the theatre would be air conditioned and I couldn’t face my 36 apartment. Sitting in the theatre I had to 37 the opening between the two tall heads in front of me. I had to keep changing the 38 every time she leaned over to talk to him, 39 he leaned over to kiss her. Why do Americans display such 40 in a public place？I thought the movie would help improve my English, but as it 41 ,it was an Italian movie. 42 about an hour I decided to give up the movie and 43 my popcorn. I’ve never understood why they gave me so much popcorn！It tasted pretty good , 44. With time going by, I understood 45 of the romantic sounding Italians. I just heard the 46 of the popcorn chewed between my teeth. My thought started to 47.I remembered when I was in South Korea, I 48 to watch a host on TV frequently. He seemed like a good friend to me, until I saw him 49 on TV in New York speaking 50 English instead of perfect Korean. He didn’t 51 have a Korean accent！I felt like I had been betrayed (背叛)．
When our family moved to the United States six years ago, none of us spoke any English. 52 we had picked up a few words, my mother suggested that we all should practise English at home. Everyone agreed, but our house became terribly 53 and we all seemed to avoid each other. When we couldn’t avoid seeing each other, our expressions were stiff (僵硬的)．Sitting at the dinner table we preferred silence to 54 a difficult language. Mother 55 to say something in English but it came out all wrong and we all burst into laughter and decided to forget it！We’ve been speaking Korean at home ever since.
1. A．warm B．hot C．heated D．uncomfortable
2. A．wander through B．walk through C．run through D．look through
3. A．room B．seat C．space D．angle
4. A．however B．but C．or D．and
5. A．excitement B．feeling C．privacy D．love
6. A．came about B．came up C．turned up D．turned out
7. A．Within B．After C．For D．Before
8. A．concentrate on B．stare at C．work on D．stick with
9. A．too B．either C．anyhow D．somehow
10. A．much B．something C．nothing D．anything
11. A．nutrient B．sound C．explosion D．smell
12. A．stop B．wander C．imagine D．fascinate
13. A．started B．began C．devoted D．used
14. A．again B．immediately C．closely D．clearly
15. A．fake B．informal C．perfect D．practical
16. A．even B．always C．occasionally D．frequently
17. A．Unless B．If C．Before D．Since
18. A．noisy B．quiet C．exciting D．still
19. A．improving B．reading C．writing D．speaking
20. A．managed B．happened C．tried D．had
It _____ Sunday, I didn’t need to go to work.I tidied all the cupboards of my apartments.
A．being B．is C．to be D．been
