During my lifetime, I’ve learnt something important: it’s good to learn new skills outside of your comfort zone. About seven years ago, I started learning how to paint as a ______. I was pretty terrible. Everything looked ________, and my colors were totally off. My friends and colleagues suggested that I stop ________ my time on something I wasn’t good at. “________ on your day job,” they said.
I kept at it — practicing, taking classes, finding the right ______ who could guide and challenge me. I am now ________ “good”. Today, the same friends say I was born with this _______.
The same thing __________ when I started piano and singing lessons a couple of years ago. Comments shifted from, “Stop wasting your time and focus on what you know,” to “You’ve got a musical gene.”
These _______ originate from long-held beliefs that growth is usually not possible for adults. Even when there is evidence of learning, it can be _______ to inborn talent. Most scientific studies on adulthood focus on cognitive (认知) decline, rather than _______, suggesting that even scientists may think that development is limited in adulthood.
A few recent studies suggest that ________ new skills, such as photography, for even three months may enhance the functioning of the brain in adults.
I would take these studies one step further to argue that a(n) ________ cause of cognitive decline is the fact that adults learn fewer new skills _______ to children. If we can _______ how to learn well as adults, then perhaps we can ________ cognitive decline.
Adults are often _______ to go outside of their comfort zones. We fear looking _________ for making mistakes; we fear failure could cost us our jobs. Perhaps a reason why we suffer from cognitive decline is that we do not engage in learning new skills for many years.
To better communicate with my German friends, I am starting to learn German. I’m ________ at the“listening and babbling (咿呀学语)” phase. Sure, some may laugh at an adult babbling, but I hope one day I can __________ German fluently, and inspire many other adults to learn like a baby.
1.A. hobby B. dream C. job D. measure
2.A. perfect B. bright C. dull D. enjoyable
3.A. taking B. wasting C. putting D. getting
4.A. Count B. Depend C. Congratulate D. Focus
5.A. friends B. teachers C. colleagues D. partners
6.A. concluded B. realized C. considered D. described
7.A. talent B. spirit C. character D. power
8.A. happened B. found C. mentioned D. showed
9.A. suggestions B. achievements C. results D. comments
10.A. reported B. attributed C. forced D. addicted
11.A. failure B. change C. adaptation D. growth
12.A. catching B. arranging C. learning D. holding
13.A. important B. flexible C. permanent D. useful
14.A. prepared B. compared C. intended D. provided
15.A. break out B. figure C. bring out D. give out
16.A. prevent B. master C. interrupt D. influence
17.A. unreasonable B. uncertain C. unwilling D. undoubted
18.A. stupid B. upset C. crazy D. ugly
19.A. clearly B. presently C. continually D. occasionally
20.A. write B. read C. listen D. speak
How to Turn Your Goals into Habits
First we make our habits, then our habits make us. It’s such a simple concept, yet it’s something we don’t always do.
I believe that having ONE goal to focus on is much more powerful than having many goals. By putting the belief into practice, I have achieved a lot of personal goals over time. 1. My answer takes a little explaining. I try to turn my goals into habits, and in doing so, I put my goals on autopilot. Turning a goal into a habit means really focusing on it for at least a month. The more you can focus, the more it'll be on autopilot. 2. You’ll still do it, but you only have to use minimal force to maintain it, and you can focus on your next goal or habit.
Take my marathon goal as an example. I was just starting running and had the brilliant idea to run a marathon within a year. So that was my goal. 3. First, I had to make running a daily habit. Second, I had to report to people in order to have accountability (负责) so that I could not quit easily. I focused on the daily running habit for about a month, and didn’t have any other goals or habits. When the running habit stuck, I started reporting to people I knew and blogging about my running every day.
4. I could focus on new goals without having to worry about the marathon. I still had to do the running, of course, but it didn’t require constant focus. 5. I was able to achieve this because, all year long, I had daily running and accountability habits. I put my marathon goal into autopilot, so instead of struggling with it daily for an entire year, I focused on it for one month and was able to accomplish it while focusing on new habits and goals.
A. And eventually, I ran the first marathon in my life.
B. At the beginning, it was very difficult for me to achieve this goal.
C. But in order to achieve it, I broke it down into two habits.
D. With this accountability, there’s no way I could stop running.
E. Once you put it on autopilot, you don't have to focus on it much.
F. My readers asked me how I was able to achieve them while working on different projects.
G. Once those two habits were established, my marathon goal was pretty much on autopilot.
How many times do you check your Facebook page in a day to see whether your latest post has got another “like” or “thumbs(拇指) up”?
Although you might be embarrassed to admit how many times you do this, don’t worry—psychological findings have shown it’s completely normal. In fact, the pleasure we derive from receiving a “like” is equal to that of eating chocolate or winning money, and we can’t help wanting more. According to the findings, which observed 32 teens aged between 13 and 18, the feedback circuit (反馈回路) in the teens’ brains is particularly sensitive, and the “social” and “visual” parts of their brains were active when they received “likes” on the social network. The research also showed that though the thumbs up might come from complete strangers, the good they derive from them worked all the same.
So, does it mean we should try our best to win as many thumbs up as possible? Not necessarily so if we know the reasons behind our desire for attention. In “why do people long for attention” by M. Farouk Radwan, he explained several cases in which people naturally longed for attention. Radwan said people who were an only child, who were used to being the center of attention in their house, may try to copy these conditions. Feeling “overlooked and unappreciated” might also lead you to long for attention. Other times, the state of being jealous, or wanting to cover your mistakes may also contribute to such longings.
In fact, too much desire for attention can create anxiety, and in turn ruin your happiness even when you get it. So what can we do about it? The answer is quite simple. “If people could adopt goals not focused on their own self-esteem（自尊）but on something larger than their self, such as what they can create or contribute to others, they would be less sensitive to some of the negative effects of pursuing self-esteem,” wrote psychology professor Jennifer Crocker.
So perhaps the answer to our addiction to “likes” is simply to focus on something larger than ourselves—a hard, but a worthy one.
1.Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The thumbs up from complete strangers don’t work.
B. Desire for attention can definitely create anxiety.
C. Feeling ignored might lead you to be in need of attention.
D. The brain of teenagers is seldom sensitive.
2.What’s the reaction of receiving “likes” on the social network to the brain?
A. The social and visual parts become more nervous.
B. The social and visual parts of the brain are active.
C. The physical and sense parts of the brain become less sensitive.
D. The whole brain becomes cleverer.
3.Who wants to get more attention according to the passage?
A. Teens who want to discover their mistakes. B. The old who lives happily with children.
C. The young who feels anxious. D. The one who is the only child.
4.What’s Crocker’s suggestion about the negative effects of getting self-esteem?
A. Doing an interesting matter. B. Working harder than ever before.
C. Having a bigger goal than their self. D. Not checking your Facebook page in a day.
Probably no other musical instrument is as popular as the guitar around the world. Musicians use the guitar for almost all kinds of music. Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument.
Music experts do not agree about where the guitar was first played. Most agree it is ancient. Some experts say an instrument very much like a guitar was played in Egypt more than 1,000 years ago. Most experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the 12th century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the 1700s it became similar to the instrument we know today.
Many famous musicians played the instrument. The famous Italian violinist Niccole Paganism played and wrote music for the guitar in the early 1800s. Franz Schubert used the guitar to write some of his famous works. In modern times Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia helped make the instrument extremely popular.
In the 1930s, Les Paul began experimenting to make an electric guitar. He invented the solid-bodied electric guitar in 1946. The Gibson Guitar Company began producing its famous Les Paul Guitar in 1952. It became a powerful influence on popular music. The instrument has the same shape and the same six strings (弦)as the traditional guitar, but it sounds very different. Les Paul produced a series of extremely popular recordings that introduced the public to this music. Listen to this Les Paul recording. It was the fifth most popular song in the United States in 1952. It is called “Meet Mister Callaghan.”
1.What can we infer from the first paragraph?
A. The guitar was the most popular musical instrument in the past.
B. The choice of musical instrument is important for a band.
C. The guitar plays a very important role in music.
D. Every musician likes playing music instrument with the guitar.
2.According to most experts, the guitar developed into a modern form like today in _____.
A. Egypt B. Persia
C. Italy D. Spain
3.In Paragraph 3, the author introduces ______.
A. the method of playing the guitar B. some musicians who played the guitar
C. the way that the guitar was made D. the exact time of the guitar’s origin
4.Where does the passage probably come from?
A. A broadcast B. A newspaper
C. A magazine D. A history book
Flower Power
When her grandmother’s health began to worsen last autumn, Mary would make the drive from Washington, DC to Winchester, VA every few days.
She hated highway driving, finding it ugly and boring. She preferred to take winding country roads to her grandmother’s hospital. When she drove through the rocky town of Harpers Ferry, the beauty of the rough waters was always appealing to her.
Toward the end of her journey, Mary had to get on highway 81. It was here that she discovered a surprising bit of beauty during one of her trips. Along the shoulder of the highway, there was a long stretch of wild flowers. They were thin and delicate and purple, and moved back and forth in the wind as if whispering poems to each other.
The first time she saw the flowers, Mary was seized by an uncontrollable urge to pull over on the highway and pull a bunch from the soil. She carried them into her grandmother’s room when she arrived at the hospital and placed them in a vase by her bed.
For a moment her grandmother seemed more lucid（清醒的）than usual. She thanked Mary for the flowers, commented on their beauty and asked where she had gotten them. Mary was overjoyed by the ability of the flowers to wake something up inside her sick grandmother.
Afterwards, Mary began carrying scissors in the car during her trips to visit her grandmother. She would quickly glide onto the shoulder, jump out of the car, and clip a bunch of flowers. Each time Mary placed the flowers in the vase, her grandmother’s eyes would light up and they would have a splendid conversation.
One morning in late October, Mary got a call that her grandmother had taken a turn for the worse. Mary was in such a hurry to get to her grandmother that she sped past her flower spot. She decided to turn around, head several miles back, and cut a bunch.
Mary arrived at the hospital to find her grandmother very weak and unresponsive. She placed the flowers in the vase and sat down to hold her grandmother’s hand. She felt a squeeze on her fingers. It was the last conversation they had.
1.Mary preferred to take country roads to the hospital because she could ________.
A. get on highway 81 more easily B. enjoy the natural view along the roads
C. pick wild flowers for her grandmother D. spend less time driving to the destination
2.When Mary placed the flowers by her grandmother’s bed, her grandmother _________.
A. came alive at the sight of the flowers B. commented on Mary’s beauty
C. was overjoyed by the flowers D. was curious about the type of the flowers
3.From the passage, we know that ________.
A. Mary discovered the wild flowers along the country roads
B. Mary’s grandmother had passed away before she arrived at the hospital
C. Mary’s last conversation with her grandmother was a silent one
D. Mary headed several miles back because she sped past the hospital
4.What does the passage convey to us?
A. Beauty in nature can be powerful. B. Love has no beginning or ending.
C. Life is as beautiful as summer flowers. D. Flowers have the magic to cure diseases.
Welcome to the Best Music Drama of the Last Ten Years
Are you fond of the music drama? As the winner of the Tony Awards "Triple Crown" for the best music drama, the best score and the best book, Avenue Q is packed with heart.
Following five years in the West End, with sell-out runs worldwide and a hit tour in 2014, this hugely entertaining show is hitting the road again!
Created by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (co-creator of Book of Modern and writer of the songs for Disney's Frozen)Avenue Q is a charming music drama which tells the story of the lovable characters on a downtown New York street trying to make sense of life’s burning issues.
Dates & times 30th September-October 31st
Monday-Thursday 7: 45 pm
Friday 5:30 pm & 10:00 pm
Saturday 4: 00 pm & 7: 45 pm
Ticket Pieces & discounts
Tickets by phone: ￡10.00 for the morning/￡20. 00 for the afternoon Discounts online: 10% off ( Every ticket has an additional￡3.00 booking fee）
Booking information
By phone:01223503333
Online: cambridgeartstheatre. com
Access
Do you ever wish our shows to be louder and easier to see? Well, if there are any access issues that you would like to discuss with a view to make your visit to the Cambridge Arts Theater more enjoyable, contact the box office: Telephone: 01223 503333: Email: access @ cambridgeartstheatre. com
SO DON’T LET YOUR LIFE SUCK!
BOOK YOUR TICKET TODAY!
1.When does Avenue/Q start on Tuesday in October?
A. At 4: 00 am. B. At 7: 45 pm.
C. At 5: 30 pm. D. At 10: 00 pm.
2.How much should you pay at least if you book a ticket for Avenue Q by phone?
A. ￡23.00 B. ￡18.00
C. ￡12.00 D. ￡13.00
3.What is the main purpose of the text?
A. To advertise a music drama. B. To introduce the box office.
C. To tell about the plot of a drama. D. To talk about the history of a theater.
