"Earworms", some people call them. Songs that get stuck in your head go round and round, sometimes for days, sometimes for months. For no clear reason you cannot help yourself from humming or singing a tune by Lady Gaga.

To a psychologist, the most interesting thing about earworms is that they show a part of our mind that is clearly outside of our control. Earworms arrive without permission and refuse to leave when we tell them to. They are parasites (寄生虫) living in a part of our minds.

If you have got an earworm you can suffer an attack of it simply by someone mentioning the tune, without having to hear it. This proves that earworms are a part of long-term memory. Humans have an "inner ear", for remembering phone numbers, for instance. When it gets infected with earworms, rather than review our plans for the day, or lists of things to remember, the inner ear gets stuck on a few short bars of music or a couple of phrases from a song. A part of us that we normally do not have to think about, that should just do what we ask, has been turned against us, upsetting us with a request that we never asked for. The mind is an inner world which we do not have complete knowledge of, or have control over.

Fortunately psychology can provide some advice on how to deal with an uncontrollable mind. Consider the famous "don’t think of a white bear" problem, which tells you to try not to think about white bears, or to do something else, to avoid both thinking of the white bear and not thinking of the white bear. For earworms, the solution may be the same. Our inner ear has become infected with an earworm. This is a part not under our control, so just sending in instructions to "shut up" is unlikely to be of much help (and has been shown to make it worse). Much better is to employ the inner ear in another task. If your mind is poisoned by Brittany Spears’ Toxic, for instance, then try singing Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head. Let me know if it works!

1.According to the passage, earworms are ______.

A.songs that keep going round in our mind

B.worms that live in a part of our brain

C.tunes by pop singers like Lady Gaga

D.parasites clearly under our control

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A.Singing songs may get earworms out of your head.

B.Earworms are used for keeping long-term memory.

C.Humans do not have complete control over their mind.

D.You won’t suffer from earworms unless you hear the song.

3.What does “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A.The instruction to shut up your mind.

B.“Don’t think of the white bear” problem.

C.Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head.

D.Using the earworm-infected inner ear in another task.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A.The causes and influences of earworms.

B.What earworms are and how to deal with them.

C.How to clear earworms out of your head.

D.The relation between earworms and popular songs.

 

完形填空 (共15小题;每小题1分,满分15分)请将答案填入相应的表格内。

Monday morning is an important time at our school. All of the students go to the playground. We listen to music, and we __1____ the national flag(国旗) go up. Usually, one student gives a talk on Monday mornings. One Monday last year, a boy gave the talk. He was __2____ and excited! When I saw him, I wanted to have a try, too. Can I really do it ?

Last week, our teacher said our class should give the talk. My teacher __3____ me, "I know you want to have a try. Next Monday, you can give the talk. Go and write something down. __4____  for it, I'm sure you'll do well."

"Thank you ," I answered, It was such a great __5____ for me ! When I got home, I was excited. I wrote two pages for the talk. I read them again and again. When I read, I asked my parents __6____. I wanted to make my teacher happy.

Monday morning came. I began to feel __7____. When did I last give a talk to __8___  many people ? Never! This was my first time. Could I really __9____ it. Maybe I couldn't finish the talk. When I got to school, we all went out to playground. I __10____ in front of everyone. I opened my mouth, but I couldn't say anything.

"Take it easy," I said to _11____  . " Don't be nervous. You can do it."

Just then, I looked down at everyone. I saw about 1,000 eyes. They were all looking at me ! I couldn't __12____  stand up. I looked at their eyes more carefully. Their eyes were saying , "You can do it! Don't be afraid, just talk !" I __13____  a deep breath(深呼吸). Then I began to talk. It wasn't hard. It was easy.

I don't know __14____  I finished my talk. But I did it. I felt so good that day. I showed myself __15____  everyone what I can do.

1.                A.watch          B.see            C.notice    D.look at

 

2.                A.surprising       B.happy          C.amazed   D.careful

 

3.                A.told to          B.asked for        C.said to    D.showed to

 

4.                A.Look out        B.Come on        C.Take care D.Get ready

 

5.                A.chance(机会)    B.news           C.time D.message

 

6.                A.to listen to      B.to hear         C.to know   D.to answer

 

7.                A.excited         B.happy          C.nervous D.surprised

 

8.                A.after           B.but            C.before   D.so

 

9.                A.do             B.speak          C.talk D.take

 

10.               A.sat            B.stood          C.lay   D.slept

 

11.               A.me            B.my class        C.myself    D.my parents

 

12.               A.be able to       B.badly          C.ever D.even

 

13.               A.took           B.held           C.put   D.left

 

14.               A.when          B.how           C.why D.whether

 

15.               A.so             B.but            C.to    D.for

 

 

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