Jenny and James were ten-year-old twins. It was their mother’s birthday on the coming Saturday and the twins wanted to give her a surprise. What could they do? Baking (烘烤) a cake seemed quite impossible.
Jenny was sitting on the stairs, wondering how she could make her mother’s day special when James came running in and said to Jenny, “Hey Jen! Mummy is inviting her friends. I think she intends to give a party!”
“It means we have to do something great so Mum can feel really happy when we surprise her in front of all her guests,” replied Jenny. “We must bake a cake for her!”
The twins were making serious plans for the birthday party. They organized the seating plan, prepared the menu, bought the ingredients (原料) for the cake and decorated the dining hall.
On the big day, they woke up very early in the morning, wished their mother a happy birthday and asked her to watch TV or read some magazines.
“We will take care of everything,” said James.
“Yes,” said Jenny. “Don’t worry about the party. We have everything under control.”
Then the twins headed for the kitchen. They were baking a chocolate cake. Both of them worked fast.
Soon, people started arriving and gave gifts to the twins’ mother. The guests and the hosts chatted for a while and then everyone went to the dining hall for the cake-cutting ceremony. The cake was very beautiful and looked delicious. James and Jenny placed it on the table and handed Mother the knife. She blew out the candles, cut the cake and everyone sang the birthday song.
Now it was time to eat the cake.
Mother hugged the twins and said, “No problem dear; it was your first attempt at baking.”
| A．Oceans. | B．Chemistry. | C．Food. |
| A．The effects of birds’ unusual behavior. |
| B．The improvements in farming practices. |
| C．The connection between humans and nature. |
| A．Printing books by Carson. |
| B．Stopping using chemicals. |
| C．Reflecting on Carson’s message. |
Jack couldn’t believe it when he saw them. The trainers (运动鞋) were on top of a cardboard box, next to a pile of rubbish bins. And they look really good and brand new. He peered inside the trainers and found they were just his size. Jack cried out, “Why would anyone throw them away?” Anna shrugged. Anna was his best friend, but Jack didn’t expect her to understand. She knew that he liked running and she even helped by timing him when he ran around the park. But Jack didn’t just like running---he was crazy about it.
He unzipped his school bag and put the trainers into his bag. “It’s the Area Cross-Country Championships in two weeks,” he said. “I’ll never do well in my worm old trainers. These will give me a chance.”
Anna nodded. She knew how important the Championships were to Jack. Five runners were selected from each school in the area. Jack hadn’t been chosen, but then one of the runners had gone to hospital. So they picked Jack to be his replacement in the race. Jack knew he had no chance of beating Beadle, the best runner in the school. However, he would be happy if he just did okay in the race---he didn’t want to let himself down.
Much to their surprise, something unusual happened when Jack put on the trainers. Usually Jack set out at a light jog at first when he practised running. But this time he reached top speed straight away. He didn’t plan it---it just happened. It felt as if he was running on air. He zoomed round the park and kept picking up sped. In fact he just had to relax and the trainers did the running. However, Anna felt really upset. She knew no pair of normal trainers could make such a difference. Anna shook her head, “You shouldn’t wear them in the race. It won’t be YOU who wins, will it? Anyone could win if they wore those trainers.” But Jack wouldn’t listen. “I won’t give them up. These trainers are my only chance to win that Championship. I don’t need your help!” he shouted. With that he turned and ran off like a speeding train.
He was even faster with each practice, but he didn’t feel happy.
I was time for the big race and the organizer called the runners to the starting line.
Otters (水獭) are known to be very social and intelligent creatures, but a new study by the University of Exeter has given new insight into their intellect.
Researchers gave otters “puzzle boxes (智力训练箱)”, some of which contained familiar food, while others held unfamiliar natural prey (猎物) — shore crab and blue mussels, which are protected by hard outer shells. For the familiar food — meatballs, a favorite with the Asian short-clawed otters in the study- the scientists had five different types of boxes, and the method to extract (提取) the food changed in each version, for example pulling a tab or opening a cap. The unfamiliar food presented additional problems because the otters did not know if the crab and mussels were safe to eat and had no experience of getting them out of their shells.
In order to decide whether food was safe and desirable to eat, the otters, which live at Newquay zoo and the Tamar Otter and Wildlife Centre, watched intently (专注地) as their companions inspected what was in the boxes and mimicked their behavior if the other otters sampled the treats.
However, they preferred to spend more time trying to figure out how to remove the meat from the shells on their own and relied less on the actions of their companions. Of the 20 otters in the study, 11 managed to extract the meat from all three types of natural prey.
“Much of the research into the extractive foraging (觅食) and learning capabilities of otters has centered on artificial food puzzles,” said the lead author, Alex Saliveros, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn campus in Cornwall. “Here, we were interested in investigating such skills in the context of unfamiliar natural food, as well as in relation to artificial food puzzles.”
Other animals employ social learning to decide what is safe to eat; rats, for example, prefer novel food types that they have smelled on the breath of other rats.
Scientists hope that understanding how otters cope with unfamiliar foraged food in their natural environment can help them train the animals to survive in the wild. “The captive (圈养的) otters in this study initially struggled with natural prey, but they showed they can learn how to extract the food,” said Saliveros. “Our findings suggest that if you give one otter pre-release training, it can pass some of that information on to others.”
1．What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The purpose of the research. | B．The process of extracting the food. |
| C．The discovery of the intellect. | D．The ways of presenting the food. |
| A．Copied. | B．Influenced. | C．Translated. | D．Monitored. |
| A．Changes in otters’ learning capabilities. |
| B．Otters’ new response in artificial food puzzles. |
| C．Otters’ learning skills in different circumstances. |
| D．Relationships between otters’ various learning skills. |
| A．They may help extract the food. | B．They improve otters’ intelligence. |
| C．They can aid conservation efforts. | D．They justify the early release of otters. |
I’d love to have been a journalist, but I wasn’t
I always had the
People
My next move will be to
| A．brave | B．serious | C．creative | D．humble |
| A．listen to | B．refer to | C．put up with | D．come up with |
| A．blindly | B．merely | C．immediately | D．hardly |
| A．gift | B．habit | C．secret | D．style |
| A．start | B．avoid | C．evaluate | D．support |
| A．funny | B．heated | C．simple | D．boring |
| A．get | B．beg | C．force | D．allow |
| A．strict | B．dependent | C．precise | D．bright |
| A．ambition | B．responsibility | C．honesty | D．communication |
| A．failed | B．tended | C．learned | D．refused |
| A．turn | B．reason | C．method | D．chance |
| A．gain | B．share | C．present | D．exchange |
| A．showed | B．made | C．offered | D．brought |
| A．solution | B．discovery | C．success | D．schedule |
| A．quit | B．reflect | C．employ | D．change |
Technology seems to discourage slow reading. Reading on screens tires eyes easily. So online writing is more skimmable than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, dramatic transformation” in how readers process words. And brains now favor rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.
We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as we learn to read more skillfully. And fears about declining attention spans have proved to be false alarms. “Some critics worry about attention span and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline, ” The American author Selvin wrote. “But nobody ever said poems were evidence of short attention spans. ”
Yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. First, it means there’s more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing means rapid release and response. Once published, online articles start forming a comment string underneath. Such mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun, but is probably lacking in profound reflection.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this advocacy emphasizes “enthusiastic” or “eager” reading — neither suggest slow absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in their slow comprehension of words. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he’s done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.
The human need for this kind of deep reading is too determined for any new technology to destroy. We often assume technological change can’t be stopped, so older media are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle hasn’t killed off printed books any more than cars killed off bicycles. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.
1．What is the author’s attitude towards Selvin’s opinion?| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
| A．Advocacy of passionate reading helps promote slow reading. |
| B．Digital writing and reading tends to ignore careful reflection. |
| C．We should be aware of the impact skimming has on the brain. |
| D．The number of Internet readers declines due to technology. |
| A．To demonstrate how to immerse oneself in thought. |
| B．To stress swimming differs from reading. |
| C．To show slow reading is better than fast reading. |
| D．To illustrate what slow reading is like. |
| A．Slow Reading is Here to Stay |
| B．Technology Prevents Slow Reading |
| C．Reflections on Deep Reading |
| D．The Wonder of Deep Reading |
A Lesson from My Sister
My parents worked very hard at ensuring that everything seemed pleasant for me and I mostly ignored the fact that my elder sister was different. The child psychologist had termed it as “Asperger Syndrome”(阿斯伯格综合症，一种自闭障碍).This diagnosis turned my parents world upside down-but they never let it affect me.
It was only at the age of ten that I started to notice the differences, and become conscious of my social life and self-image that I had carefully cultivated. My sister was socially awkward. She could not look at people in the eye. She would mumble(嘟哝)to herself and repeat the words she had just said under her breath. She, however, was academically capable, and hence we attended the same primary school. Despite this, I never, ever acknowledged in public that she was my sister. There was one incident, however, just two years ago, that remains imprinted in my consciousness. It was the incident that changed how I viewed my sister. It was the incident that changed me.
Being in primary six, about to graduate, my sister and her classmates had to put up a performance, whether in a group，or individually. Due to her inability to integrate(融入)，my sister was the only one left without a group. The school had made it a rule for everyone to put up an item, so my sister had to perform individually. ”I’ll sing.” my sister told my parents, confidently. Hearing that, I was taken aback and completely shocked. I knew she would embarrass me, one way or another. “No!” I protested. My parents shot me a look and that was when I knew my sister was going to perform, no matter what. Silently, I prayed that something would happen and I would not have to watch my sister shame herself.
That day came. I sat in the hall，waiting for the performances to start. The lights dimmed(变昏暗) a minute or two later and the curtains parted to reveal the only solo-my sister. She blinked(眨眼)a couple of times, as if the lights shining on her were hurting her eyes.
It took about a whole minute for her to stammer(口吃，结巴地说)her name and class.
How did I not know that my sister could sing so sweetly?
European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is back on Earth after spending five and a half months in orbit on the International Space Station (ISS). The Italian
That view
“Looking up, I see the immensity of the cosmos; bowing my head, I look at the multitude of the world. The gaze flies, the heart expands, the joy of the senses can reach its peak, and indeed, this is true happiness.” The text was
Her
“I have a good friend, an Italian who has lived in China for 30 years—a sinologist, very
It is hoped that ESA astronauts will
“She speaks very well in Chinese, and this post has shown that she can do this very well,” he told CGTN. “Space is
| A．signed up | B．picked up | C．used up | D．packed up |
| A．recited | B．expressed | C．illustrated | D．quoted |
| A．inspired | B．insulted | C．indicated | D．interpreted |
| A．accepted | B．acknowledged | C．accompanied | D．followed |
| A．departure | B．return | C．recovery | D．delivery |
| A．wrote | B．required | C．chose | D．published |
| A．interest | B．attention | C．effort | D．result |
| A．knowledgeable | B．shallow | C．common | D．eager |
| A．possession | B．adaptation | C．passage | D．example |
| A．feed up with | B．put up with | C．come up with | D．team up with |
| A．strengths | B．credits | C．expectations | D．missions |
| A．praise | B．criticism | C．comment | D．substance |
| A．conflicted | B．divided | C．united | D．separated |
| A．vast | B．international | C．individual | D．limitless |
| A．boundary | B．extreme | C．extent | D．principle |
| A．bridge | B．cross | C．shorten | D．minimize |
| A．remember | B．remind | C．trust | D．ignore |
| A．Until | B．When | C．Upon | D．While |
| A．competitors | B．subjects | C．issues | D．opportunities |
| A．related | B．weak | C．necessary | D．typical |
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