A baboon

One night in December 2011, a bear came into the city of Vancouver (温哥华) in Canada. It found some food outside a restaurant and started eating. In the morning, someone saw the bear and called the police. The police took it to the mountains outside the city.

Big animals usually come into cities to find food. In Cape Town in South Africa, baboons come into cities when they are hungry. They go into gardens and eat fruit from trees. They even go into houses and take food from fridges! The city can be dangerous for baboons. Sometimes, cars and buses kill them. Our food is bad for their teeth because it has a lot of sugar. Now, there are Baboon Monitors working in Cape Town. Their job is to find baboons in the city and return them to the countryside.

In Berlin in Germany, pigs sometimes come into the city to look for food. They eat flowers, vegetables and plants in parks and gardens. Sometimes they walk in the street. Some people like the pigs and they give them food and water. Other people do not like the pigs and they want the police to stop them coming into the city.

In Moscow (莫斯科) in Russia, there are 35,000 wild dogs. The dogs live in parks, old houses, markets and train stations. Many people in Moscow like the dogs. They give them food and water. Some people make small houses for the dogs in their gardens and this helps the dogs in winter.

Many animals live in cities. But sometimes, it is dangerous when big animals come into cities to find food. So we need to find ways to keep them away from cities without hurting them.

1.Animals come into the cities mainly to _________.

A. make friends with people B. stay in warm places

C. help the police D. look for food

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Most people dislike having pigs in the cities.

B. People put too much sugar to the food of animals.

C. People in Vancouver often give food and water to bears.

D. Some people in Moscow help dogs live through the winter.

3.The writer believes that people should _______.

A. send animals back to their owners

B. kill those dangerous animals in cities

C. help big animals stay away from cities

D. build enough houses for animals in cities

Too many people think that intelligence is a gift of nature and that there is little anyone can do to improve theirs. IQ tests have managed to confuse many of us, leading us to believe that intelligence is largely fixed.

It is not. Just like swimming, cooking, dancing, and many other things, being smart is a skill that requires training. I discovered some of the most important tools to be smart when I watched my professors for years to learn how to do useful research. Now I will share them with you.

Practice self-critical thinking

Critical thinking is the act of questioning the arguments that are put before us. It is a valuable skill — without it, we are too willing to believe what other people say and easily get influenced. The problem is that we usually only apply (应用) critical thinking to other people's ideas. When we apply critical thinking to our own ideas, its power reaches a whole new level. I call this self-critical thinking. If you practice self-critical thinking, you will find imperfection in your arguments before anyone else. And you can come up with a better idea. By practicing self-critical thinking, your mind will surprise you.

Be persistent

Smart and successful people don't give up. They believe that they can do it, so they spent months, even years trying until finally something works out. You might know that Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he succeeded. Actually, almost all scientists experience failure regularly. So if you want to be smart, be persistent.

Learn to present your ideas

You may have your good ideas, but if you don't sell your ideas, no one will recognize their worth and consider you smart. So you need to learn how to present your ideas. Pronounce clearly, express your thoughts properly. And most importantly, let your enthusiasm (热情) about your ideas shine through. Enthusiasm spreads quickly. When you have something to say, say it well. Selling your ideas is not only good for your reputation (声誉), others can also benefit from your message.

Finally, you must also believe in yourself. Those who appear smarter than you simply have used the right tools to exercise their minds. You are smarter than you think.

1.When we practice self-critical thinking, we _________.

A. are very likely to doubt other people's ideas

B. are willing to believe and accept other people's ideas

C. can easily come up with better ideas than other people

D. can find weak points in our own ideas before other people

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Too many people think they can improve their intelligence.

B. Scientists can succeed much more easily than normal people.

C. Pronouncing clearly is the most important skill to express ideas.

D. Others can recognize the value of your ideas, if you sell them properly.

3.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. How to be smart. B. How to argue forcefully

C. How to be successful D. How to do useful research

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