Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think constantly. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical(判断性的) thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes to construct your own ideas. Otherwise, you might be controlled by others’ ideas. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.
The word “critical” here contains a special meaning. It doesn’t mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen–beyond the pictures on TV which are often not consistent with reality, the untrue and controversial reports in the newspapers, and the faulty and contradictory reasoning.
Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.
Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not consist with the fast speed in today’s world: fast food, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein, who made great contributions to science during his life. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a contemporary scientist, was to consult Albert Einstein about his work, Hoffman was too nervous to speak. but Einstein was very considerate and immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.”
1.Critical thinking is important to us because if we don’t think critically, ______________.
A.it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast
B.we might be controlled by other people’s ideas
C.we will follow the ideas of others naturally
D.we might be fooled by other people’s ideas
2.If you are a critical thinker, you will ______________________.
A. think deeply about different ideas
B. trust the reports in the newspapers
C. take one view against another view
D. criticize other people for their mistakes
3.In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that ___________________.
A. the smarter you are, the faster you do things
B. the faster you do things, the smarter you become
C. speed can improve intelligence
D. intelligence is not decided by speed
4. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Thinking and Critical Thinking
B. Understanding Critical Thinking
C. Thinking is Natural and Human
D. Thinking Fast Means Intelligence
Why play games? Because they are fun, and a lot more besides. Following the rules… planning your next move… acting as a team member… these are all “game” ideas that you will come across throughout your life.
Think about some of the games you played when you were in a primary school, such as rope-jumping and hide-and-seek. Such games are entertaining and fun. But perhaps more importantly, they translate life into exciting dramas that teach children some of the basic and practical rules they will be expected to follow the rest of their lives, such as taking turns and cooperating.
Many children’s games have a practical side. Children around the world play games to help them make preparations for work they will do as grown-ups. For example, some Saudi Arabian children show preference for a game called bones, which sharpens the precise hand-eye coordination needed in hunting.
Many sports encourage national or local pride. The most famous games of all, the Olympics, bring athletes from around the world together to take part in friendly competition and make a presentation of their talents. People who watch the event wave flags, knowing that a precious gold medal is a win for an entire country, not just the athlete who has earned it and should be praised. For countries facing the pressure of natural disasters or war, an Olympic win can mean so much.
Sports are also an event that unites people. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. People on all continents play it–some for fun and some for a living. Nicolette Iribarne, a Californian soccer player, has discovered a way to spread hope and power through soccer. He created a foundation to provide poor children with not only soccer balls but also a promising future.
Next time you play your favorite game or sport, think about why you enjoy it, what skills are needed, and whether these skills will help you in other aspects of your life.
1.Through playing hide-and-seek, children are expected to learn to ________________.
A. be a team leader B. obey the basic rules
C. act as a grown-up D. predict possible danger
2. According to the passage, why is winning Olympic medals so encouraging?
A. It inspires people’s deep love for the country.
B. It proves the exceptional skills of the winners.
C. It helps the country out of natural disasters.
D. It earns the winners fame and fortune.
3. Iribarne’s goal of forming the foundation is to __________________.
A. bring fun to poor kids
B. provide soccer balls for children
C. give poor kids a chance for a better life
D. call on soccer players to help poor kids
4.We can infer from the passage _______________________.
A. Games benefit people all their lives
B. Sports can get all athletes together
B. People are advised to play games for fun
D. Sports makes a country competitiveness
假设你是红星中学高二（1）班的学生李华。下面四幅图描述了上周五你在放学路上，撞倒一位骑车老人并实施救助的过程。请根据图片的先后顺序，写一篇英文周记。
注意：
1．文章的开头已为你写好；
2．词数不少于60。
Last Friday _____________________________________________________________
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书面表达（共2小题）
假如你是北京阳光中学的李涛，今年暑假你打算到纽约自助游，你在沙发网上找到了一位愿意免费为你提供住宿的美国人Peter，请根据下表提供的信息，给Peter 写一封信，介绍你的情况以及你的需求。
注意：
1．词数不少于50；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Peter，
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Li Tao
信息匹配（共1小题）
For the rest of March，a disease will sweep across the US．It will keep kids home from school．__1.__ Employees will suddenly lose their ability to concentrate．
The disease，known as “March Madness”，refers to the yearly 65-team US men’s college basketball tournament(锦标赛)．__2._ Teams compete against each other in a single-elimination(单局淘汰) tournament that eventually crowns a national champion．
__3._ The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game．Friends compete against friends．Husbands against wives．Colleagues against bosses．
Big-name schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament．But each year there are dark horses from little-known universities．This adds to the madness．Watching a team from a school with 3，000 students beat a team from a school with 30，000，for many Americans，is an exciting experience．Two years ago，the little-known George Mason University was one of the final teams．_4.__
College basketball players are not paid，so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves．__5._ About $4 billion will be spent gambling on the event．According to Media Life magazine，the event will bring in $500 million in advertising income this year，topping the post-season income of every US professional league，including that of the NBA．A．Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival Madness．
B．The players will go all out for the games．
C．But that doesn’t mean money isn’t involved．
D．College students will ignore piles of homework．
E．People are willing to spend more money on watching it．
F．It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April．
G．Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament．
D Are you an optimist？ Do you look at your glass and see it as half full？ Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that things generally turn out for the best？ Do you believe that if something is meant to be，it will be？ If you reply “yes” to all of these questions，then you are an optimist．You probably are enthusiastic，cheerful and outgoing．You may be successful at work and in love．
But you may be misguided because things don't turn out for the best．You may believe that when on door closes another one opens(for example，you may fail to obtain a new job; another chance will come around soon)．Wrong．When one door closes，another door slams(砰然关上)in your face．That's bitter reality．
Now a book has been published which confirms what pessimists(悲观者)have suspected all along．it's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism．Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results．Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear，anxiety and worry．Defensive pessimists prepare for the tings by setting low outcomes for themselves．They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems．And this gives them a sense of control．Lawrence Sanno，a psychology professor，says，“What's interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people，so their low opinion of the situation's outcomes is not realistic．They use it to motivate themselves to perform better．”
So far，so good．This is not rocket science．Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong，whether at work，on date or even in a sports game．It makes sense to have a back-up plan．There are many sayings in English urging caution．For example，“Don't put all your eggs in one basket．”
And “Don't count your chickens until they hatch．” To have a confident and optimistic approach to life's problems is good．But listen to what Woody Alien，the American comedian says ，”Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem．”
There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist．Don't feel bad if you see the glass half empty．You are a realist But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full．
1.What's the passage mainly about？
A．A book that has recently been published．
B．How to become successful in life
C．The dangers of being too optimistic．
D．The benefits of defensive pessimism．
2.The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science”(Para．4)means ______．
A．it's not a dangerous thing to do
B．it is quite simple to understand
C．the cost is not so high
D．there is no real proof
3.Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe？
A．Don't put all your eggs in one basket．
B．The glass is half full not half empty．
C．Whatever will be，will be．
D．Every cloud has a silver lining．
4.The writer would probably describe himself as ______．
A．an optimist
B．a defeatist
C．a realist
D．a scientist
