One period of our lives when better results are demanded of us is, strangely enough, childhood． Despite being young we are expected to achieve good grades, stay out of trouble, make friends at school, do well on tests, perform chores at home and so on． It’s not easy．
The good news is that being likeable can help a child perform better． Likeable children enjoy many advantages, including the ability to cope（对付） more easily with stresses of growing up．
In her book Understanding Child Stress, Dr． Carolyn Leonard states that children who are likeable and optimistic are able to gain support from others． This leads to focus and resilience, the ability to recover from or adjust early to life stress; a child who has adequate emotional armor can continue down the path to success． Much research shows that resilience has enabled children to succeed in school, avoid drug abuse, and develop a healthy self-awareness．
Why does a likeable child more easily handle stress and do better in his or her life? Because likeability helps create what’s known as a positive feedback loop（回馈圈）． The positive feelings you want to see in other people are returned to you, creating constant encouragement and motivation to deal with the daily stress of life．
This feedback loop continues into adulthood． To return once again to the example of teaching, learning becomes easier with a likeable personality． Michael Delucchi of the University of Hawaii reviewed dozens of studies to determine if likeable teachers received good ratings because of their likeability or because they in fact taught well． Delucchi found that “Students who perceive（察觉） a teacher as likeable, in contrast to（比照） those who do not, may be more attentive to the information that the teacher delivers and they’ll work harder on assignments, and they will learn more．”
You may have noticed this pattern in your own life when you try to give some advice． The more positive your relationship with that person, the more he or she seems to listen, and the more you feel certain that that person has heard you and intends to act on your words．
1.The writer implies in the first paragraph that __________．
A． children are expected much than we usually think
B． life is not easy for every one of us
C． better education results in smarter children
D． to be a likable child is almost impossible
2.According to Dr． Leonard, likeable children __________．
A． can cope more easily with stress independently
B． know how to avoid trouble and unpleasant events
C． are always optimistic and ready to help those in need
D． can achieve more and understand themselves better
3.The term “emotional armor” in paragraph 3 means __________．
A． mental support from friends B． mental support from adults
C． failures in life D． ability to handle life stress
4.The main purpose of the studies done by Michael Delucchi is to find __________．
A． if a likeable teacher has a positive personality
B． if a likeable teacher draws more attention
C． how a teacher’s likeability gains popularity
D． how a likeable teacher’s teaching style is formed
5.The passage aims at proving that __________．
A． likeable people do better in life generally
B． likeable people do better in their childhood
C． social creatures enjoy more advantages
D． likeable people give better advice
It was a Sunday morning, and I was in a terrible mood. Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn’t invited me. I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in. “Want to go for a ride, today, Beck? It’s a beautiful day.”
“No! Leave me alone!” Those were the last words I said to him that morning.
My friends called and invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later. I forgot to be mad at them and went. I came home to find a note on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it. “Dad has had an accident. Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital”.
When I reached the hospital, my mother came out and told me my father’s injuries were extensive. “Your father told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911, thank God! If he had moved Daddy, there’s no telling what might have happened. A broken rib (肋骨) might have pierced (穿透) a lung....”
My mother may have said more, but I didn’t hear. I didn’t hear anything except those terrible words: Leave me alone. My dad said them to save himself from being hurt more. How much had I hurt him when I hurled (愤慨地说出) those words at him earlier in the day?
It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation. I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him.
“Daddy... I am so sorry....”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll be okay.”
“No,” I said, “I mean about what I said to you that day. You know, that morning?”
My father could no more tell a lie than he could fly. He looked at me and said, “Sweetheart, I don’t remember anything about that day, not before, during or after the accident. I remember kissing you goodnight the night before, though.” He managed a weak smile.
My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power. They can hurt or they can heal. And we all have the power to choose our words. I intend to do that very carefully from now on.
1.The author was in bad mood that morning because ________.
A. his father had a terrible accident
B. he couldn’t drive to the mall with his friends
C. his friends hadn’t invited him to the cinema
D. his father didn’t allow him to go out with his friends
2.Why did the author say sorry to his father in the hospital?
A. Because he didn’t go along with his father.
B. Because he was rude to his father that morning.
C. Because he failed to come earlier after the accident.
D. Because he couldn’t look after his father in the hospital.
3.The reason why the author’s father said he forgot everything about that day is that ________.
A. he had a poor memory
B. he didn’t want to forgive his son
C. he just wanted to comfort his son
D. he lost his memory after the accident
4.What lesson did Beck learn from the matter?
A. Don’t treat your parents badly
B. Don’t hurt others with rude words
C. Don’t move the injured in an accident
D. Don’t be angry with friends at small things
Scientists who discovered a new way of generating electricity from water say they may have come across an alternative source of clean energy to rival wind and solar power.
The breakthrough, which scientists say is the first new way to generate electricity in 160 years, could lead to batteries that use water instead of poisonous substances.
The scientists made the discovery when they were investigating what happens when tap water is forced through extremely narrow glass tubes. Water squeezed down the tubes, each of which was narrower than a tenth the thickness of a human hair, generating a small electric current that ran the length of the tube. To produce a larger electric current, the team tried forcing water through a glass water filter(滤水器)that contained thousands of narrow channels lined up side by side. “When we took a syringe(注射器)of water and squeezed it through the filter, we got enough power to light a light bulb,” said Larry Kostiuk of the University of Alberta in Canada. “The harder you push the syringe, the more electric current you get.”
The current is produced because of an effect in the glass tubes. When they are filled with water, positively charged ions(阳离子)fixed in the tubes are washed away, leaving a slight negative charge on the glass surface. When water is then forced along the tube, the surface repels negatively charged ions in the water while positively charged ions are attracted down the tube. The result is a net flow of positively charged ions that sets up an electric current.
According to Dr Kostiuk, no one has ever thought to use water to produce electricity in this way. “The last time someone came up with a way of generating electricity was Michael Faraday in 1839,” he said. “So this is the first new way of generating electricity in 160 years, which is why we are so excited about it.”
Dr Kostiuk says water batteries might one day be used to power mobile phones and calculators, but admitted that the engineering challenges might make other applications more realistic. “You’d need to be sure it wouldn’t leak, and you’d need to make sure it wouldn’t freeze,” he said.
More likely would be to install the electricity-generating devices where water is already being pumped, such as at city water filtration sites, he said. “It could compete with wind and solar power,” he added.
1.What does the passage mainly want to tell us about?
A. A kind of solar power discovered by scientists.
B. A kind of new energy source found in tap water.
C. The breakthrough to generate electricity 160 yeas ago.
D. A kind of new battery invented without poisonous substances.
2.The underlined word “repels” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _________.
A. rejects B. identifies C. attracts D. rebels
3.Why were the scientists extremely happy about their new discovery?
A. They were the first to find a new way to produce electricity.
B. They could make an electric current to light a light bulb.
C. Their discovery could be used to invent water batteries.
D. Their discovery was made 160 years earlier than Faraday’s.
4.What can we infer about potential water batteries?
A. They must be used to power mobile phones and calculators.
B. They have some possible disadvantages like water leaking.
C. They would be needed greatly at city water filtration sites.
D. They would be better than wind and solar power.
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In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It’s a principle that’ been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence .
Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads(流浪者)who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt.
A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.
I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, “I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.”
The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. Finally he, too, spoke. “That’s not a good way to die—before you’ve told the end of your story.”
What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats—and they in turn can listen to ours.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.
Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening. Then we can send the great record of human out into the endless universe.
Who knows? Maybe someone is out there, willing to listen…
1.From the very beginning of the passage, we can know Europeans ________.
A. actually lose the ability to listen
B. seldom chat constantly with each other
C. feel frightened when they are alone and silent
D. tend to talk more and listen less
2. It can be inferred from the passage that if you are in Africa, you will _______.
A. suffer hot weather and lack of water
B. be certainly helped when in trouble
C. often hear the stories told by strangers
D. have no choice but to listen during a talk
3.According to the last three paragraphs, we can know _________.
A. no one knows exactly why Africans are willing to listen
B. information is hard to understand without interpretation
C. listening makes the difference between information and knowledge
D. the existence of humans’ recordings totally depends on the way of storytelling
4.The passage mainly talks about __________.
A. the experience of the author
B. the art of listening in Africa
C. the importance of storytelling
D. the life styles of Africans
Coming home from school, I was filled with excitement. But I was into stillness by what I saw. Mother, seated at the end of the sofa, , with the second-hand green typewriter on the table. She told me she couldn’t type fast and she was out of work. My shock at finding mother in tears was a perfect of how I understood the pressures on her. Sitting beside her on the sofa, I began very to understand. I could her pain and the tension (压力) of the strong feeling that were interrupted by my arrival. Suddenly, something inside me . I reached out and put my arms around her. She broke then. She put her face my shoulder and sobbed. I held her and didn’t try to talk. I knew I was doing what I should, and that was enough. At that moment, mother’s back with feelings, I understood for the first time her being so easy to . She was still my mother, she was something : a person like me, capable of fear and and failure. I could feel her pain as she must have felt mine on a thousand occasions when I sought in her arms.
A week later mother took a job at half the salary the radio station . “It’s a job I can do, though.” She said . But the evening practice on the old green typewriter continued. I had a very feeling now when I heard her tapping away across the paper at night. I knew there was something more going on in there than a woman learning to .
1.A. lazy B. shocked C. ashamed D. tired
2.A. smiling B. thinking C. crying D. whispering
3.A. proof B. feeling C. excuse D. explanation
4.A. little B. much C. eagerly D. worriedly
5.A. suddenlyB. slowly C. proudly D. quickly
6.A. watch B. recognize C. look D. sense
7.A. putting awayB. stopping from C. sitting up D. holding back
8.A. turned B. lit C. increased D. rose
9.A. through B. against C. up D. to
10.A. carefullyB. politely C. tightly D. thoughtfully
11.A. feeling B. reaching C. watching D. sensing
12.A. break B. content C. understand D. fall
13.A. still B. therefore C. yet D. however
14.A. much B. huge C. little D. more
15.A. cut B. hurt C. defeat D. wound
16.A. memory B. support C. comfort D. kindness
17.A. offered B. paid for C. contributed D. supplied
18.A. sadly B. simply C. excitedly D. worriedly
19.A. hard B. pleasant C. serious D. different
20.A. work B. write C. type D. sell
