A Simple Lesson
“Another bad day at school？” my father asked as I came into the room.
“How could you tell? I didn't shut the door heavily or anything，” I replied. Over the past two months I had either done this or thrown my backpack across the room every time I came home from school. Papa thinks it has something to do with moving to a new house.
“I know this move has been hard on you. Leaving your friends and cousins behind is tough，” Papa said, as he put his arm around my shoulder. “What you must remember is that, with a lot of hard work and some time, you will make new friends.”
“You don't know how hard it is. This year my baseball team would have won the championship. They won't even give me a chance to pitch (投球) here. All I get to play is right field, and that's the worst！”
Papa turned toward me. “Things will get better, I promise you. Let me ask you, do you know why you were named David Lorenzo？”
“Yes, your name is David and grandfather's name is Lorenzo.”
“Very good, and what makes your grandfather so important？”
“He was the first in the family to come to this country and all that，” I answered.
“That is only partly correct. Your grandfather was a very great man. In Mexico, he had been a teacher. When he came to America he could only get lowpaid labor jobs because he didn't speak the language. It took him two years before he spoke English well enough to be allowed to teach here, but he did it. He never complained because he knew change could be difficult. Did he ever tell you that？” my father asked.
I looked down at my feet, ashamed at my behavior. “No. That must have been hard，” I said sheepishly.
“Your grandfather taught me that if you let people see your talent, they will accept you for who you are. I want you to always remember what my father taught me, even if it takes a few years for people to see who you are，” said Papa.
All I could say was, “Okay.” Then I asked, “What should I do now？”
Laughing, Papa said, “How about you pitch a few to me? You need some work.”
1.Why was the author unhappy that day?
A．Because he moved to a new country.
B．Because his baseball team lost the game.
C．Because he wasn't offered a chance to pitch.
D．Because he quarreled with his friends at school.
2.The father successfully changed his son's mood by ________.
A．asking him to train harder
B．playing baseball with him
C．telling his grandfather's story
D．introducing him some new friends
3.The underlined word “sheepishly” probably means ________.
A．shyly B．patiently
C．clumsily D．cautiously
4.What can we infer about the author?
A．He thinks his father lives in the past.
B．He'd rather live with his grandfather.
C．He will continue to dislike school and everything.
D．He will try his best to adapt to the new environment.
It is a true story behind a wellknown piece of art.
In a village near Nuremberg lived a family with eighteen children. Merely to keep food on the table, the father worked eighteen hours a day. Despite their ___ condition, two of the children had a dream to seek their talent for ____ but they knew well their father would never be able to send ____ of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.
The two boys finally worked out an agreement. They would toss (扔) a coin. The ____ would work in the nearby mines to support his brother. Albrecht ____ the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, ____ work at the academy was almost a(n ) ____ success. Albecht's woodcut and oils were much ____ than those of his professors and he soon was earning considerable fees ____ his works.
When the young ____ returned home, the family held a festive dinner. Albrecht rose to toast to his beloved brother, “Now, Albert, it is your ____ to seek your dream and l will support you”．
All heads turned to the far end of the table, where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, while he ____ and repeated, “No...no.” Finally, Albert rose and ____ the tears from his cheeks. He said softly, “I ____ go to Nuremberg, brother. It is too late for me. Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and I cannot even hold a glass to ____ your toast.”
Today, Albrecht's masterful works ____ in every great museum in the world, but chances are great ____ you, like most people, are familiar with only one of them. Albrecht drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and the ____ stretched skyward. He called it simply “Hands”， but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and ____ his tribute (敬意) of love “The Praying Hands”．
Next time you see that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one ever makes it ____！
1.A.hopeful B．lucky
C．disappointed D．hopeless
2.A.music B．art
C．mining D．farming
3.A.all B．both
C．each D．either
4.A.painter B．loser
C．winner D．failure
5.A.lost B．got
C．won D．beat
6.A.who B．his
C．whom D．whose
7.A.random B．immediate
C．attractive D．ordinary
8.A.smaller B．worse
C．faster D．better
9.A.for B．to
C．in D．at
10.A.miner B．worker
C．artist D．professor
11.A.luck B．turn
C．move D．moment
12.A.sobbed B．nodded
C．smiled D．laughed
13.A.recovered B．swept
C．wiped D．handed
14.A.can't B．shouldn't
C．can D．should
15.A.hold B．return
C．move D．turn
16.A.hang B．represent
C．present D．visit
17.A.when B．that
C．which D．as
18.A.figures B．hands
C．fingers D．arms
19.A.said B．loved
C．renamed D．called
20.A.yet B．out
C．alone D．before
We sometimes think global warming or climate change is a problem very far away from our lives, and that only the government needs to worry about it. But it's hardly possible to completely stay out of it scientists are now 95 percent sure that humans have been the “dominant cause” of global warming trends since the 1950s.
One of the conclusions of a report released on Sept 27 by the United Nations says that human activities have caused global temperatures to rise by 0.89 0C between 1901 and 2012. That might not seem like a lot, but the truth is that a major part of that heat has been absorbed into the oceans, which is not surprising given that they cover two thirds of Earth's surface. Also, water has a much greater capacity (容量) to absorb heat than the air does, according to The Economist.
While many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to keep the Earth warm enough to support life, humans' use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess (多余的) greenhouse gases. According to CNN, by driving cars, using electricity produced by burning coal and oil or heating our homes with coal or natural gas, we release a large amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Your body can barely feel a difference of 0.89 0C, but the Earth's ecosystems are so sensitive that even small changes can disturb them. It often starts with the smallest creatures at the bottom of the food chain, eventually affecting bigger animals, many of which could end up becoming extinct.
Global warming is also linked to an increase in extreme weather. A larger amount of carbon dioxide traps more energy inside the atmosphere. This changes the patterns of storms and rainfall in many regions and can lead to droughts and floods. Worse still, melting sea ice in warmer oceans is causing sea levels to rise at a speed of more than three millimeters per year, according to The Guardian, which also increases the risk of flooding.
“The report should serve as another wakeup call that our activities today have a profound impact on society, not only for us, but for many generations to come，” French Michel Jarraud, secretarygeneral of the World Meteorological Organization, said at a news conference.
1.The underlined word “dominant” in the first paragraph means “ ________”．
A. common B．indirect
C．secondary D．leading
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Greenhouse gases have been proven to harm merely the Earth .
B．There is little we can do to prevent global warming.
C．Global warming can increase the chances of droughts and floods.
D．The hugeness of oceans makes them better absorbers of heat than the air.
3.The rise in global temperatures between 1901 and 2012 ________.
A．is more harmful to smaller creatures than bigger ones
B．is not serious because most of the extra heat has been absorbed by the oceans
C．has made the Earth's ecosystems more sensitive to changes
D．is likely to cause many species to become extinct
4.What is Michel Jarraud's attitude toward the report released by the UN?
A．Negative. B．Supportive.
C．Doubtful. D．Uninterested.
Some students get so nervous before a test; they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious testtakers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry，it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher，Gerardo Ramirez，have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam，highly anxious testtakers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock: “What we think happens is when students put it down on paper，they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and，in essence(本质上)，it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they're actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B＋，compared to a B－ for those who did not.
Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly testanxious，who'd done our writing intervention(排解)，all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1.Which of the following is TRUE?
A．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test.
B．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better.
C．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse.
D．Some college students are highly anxious testtakers while others are not in the tests.
2.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?
A．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test.
B．Test anxiety can improve students' performance to some degree.
C．Students' attention and memory resources run out when worried.
D．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried.
3.The result of the research suggests that ________.
A．proper amount of burden may turn out to be a good thing
B．facing the fears bravely may help one to achieve more
C．avoiding facing the problem may contribute to relaxation
D．taking no action before difficulty may result in success
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety.
B．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears.
C．It is a common practice for students being worried before a test.
D．Being worried before tests does harm to students' performance.
Nuclear power's danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.
Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can't be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can't sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being immediately by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no levels of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed immediately. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(辐射)and feel fine, then die for cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.
1.Which of the following statements is true?
A．Nuclear radiation is just like common radio waves.
B．Nuclear radiation can cause cancer to human beings.
C．Nuclear radiation can be detected by human senses.
D．Nuclear radiation can be safe to human beings if its level is low.
2.How can nuclear radiation kill an animal?
A．By damaging its heart.
B．By killing a few cells.
C．By hitting any place in its body.
D．By killing many cells in important organs.
3.If a human being is hit by nuclear radiation, he may __________.
A．die of cancer after many years
B．die immediately
C．have a child who may be born weak
D．all of the above
Art robbery and art forgery (仿造) are both major themes in crime movies and literature.In the 2012 comedy movie Gambit, British actor Colin Firth plays an art curator who cheats his abusive boss into buying a fake Monet. In reality, art crimes are no less interesting and exciting.
According to The New York Times, over the past 15 years, Glafira Rosales fooled two local commercial art galleries into buying 63 false works of art for more than $30 million.She passed off fake paintings as works by 20th century modernist masters such as American artists Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.But in fact, these so called “newly discovered works” were all produced by a single man, a Chinese immigrant named Qian Peishen.
The art world was shocked by Rosales' deception.But to the public, it was amusing and most satisfying to see wealthy people get tricked.
So what decides the value of a piece of art? Is it beauty? Is it the artist's talent and craftsmanship? Or is it just because the artist is famous?
We should take beauty out. If the buyers were buying paintings only for their beauty, they'll be content displaying good fakes on their walls. They wouldn't be so upset when a forgery is exposed.
The art market claims that great artists are inimitable, and that this inimitability justifies the absurd price of their works. We can't deny that most famous artists are good at what they do, but forgers like Qian show that their works are imitable.Otherwise, the difference between the original and the copycats would be obvious and Rosales would not be able to fool anyone.
According to an article in the Economist, expensive paintings are what economists call positional goods. They are valuable because other people can't have them. With other goods, a higher price reduces demand.But art turns down the laws of economics. “When the goods that is really being purchased is evidence that the buyer has paid a lot, price increases cause demand to boom，” explained the article.
That's why scarcity and authenticity are so important in the art market. Artists sometimes forget this.Demien Hirst, the British pop artist, is famous for his spot paintings. But they dropped in value when it became clear that they had been produced in quantities so vast that nobody knew how many were out there.The art market lost faith in these paintings because no one could be sure which of them were authentic and which were fake.
1.The first paragraph is meant to tell the readers that ________.
A．movies and literature will be popular with art involved in them
B．art crimes are as interesting and exciting in reality as in movies
C．Gambit is a good movie with art forgery as the major theme
D．real art crime in reality can be adapted into popular films
2.Who is amused and satisfied to see the rich buy forged works of art?
A．The public.
B．Glafira Rosales.
C．Qian Peishen.
D．Mark Rothlo and Jackson Pollock.
3.What kind of art buyers should not be unhappy with its high prices when a forgery is exposed according to the author?
A．Those who buy only for its beauty.
B．Those who buy for its inimitability.
C．Those who 'buy for its authenticity.
D．Those who buy for its scarcity.
4.What is the law of economics theory behind art goods according to the economists?
A．They are valuable goods.
B．High prices reduce the demand of art goods.
C．High prices increase the demand of art goods.
D．They are produced in quantities to satisfy people.
