题目内容
In some countries, the most common unlucky number is thirteen. People don’t like to live in a house that is number 13. People don’t like to have parties with thirteen people. People don’t like to do important things on the thirteenth of the month. Also, when you add the Japanese unlucky numbers together---nine and four ---they make thirteen.
There aren’t many business meetings on the thirteenth of the month especially when the thirteenth is on a Friday. Friday is always unlucky. Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden (伊甸园) on a Friday. Jesus Christ died on a Friday. There were thirteen people at his last supper. In Europe, they kill criminals(罪犯) on Fridays.
For some people, unlucky numbers do the opposite things. My elder brother was born on the thirteenth. He passed his exams on the thirteenth. He married on the thirteenth. He became a pilot on the thirteenth. It was always a lucky number for him.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。
【小题1】What is the unlucky number in Japanese?
| A．Thirteen | B．Nine | C．Four | D．Nine and four |
| A．9 | B．12 | C．13 | D．24 |
| A．Adam and Eve. | B．Jesus Christ’s death. |
| C．Jesus Christ’s last supper. | D．The author’s brother’s marriage date. |
| A．On the thirteen every month. | B．On Fridays of the fifth month every year. |
| C．On Fridays. | D．On the third week of every month. |
| A．The author was born on the thirteenth. |
| B．The author’s elder brother passed his exams on the thirteenth. |
| C．The author’s elder brother married on the thirteenth. |
| D．Thirteen was a lucky number for the author’s brother. |
【小题1】D
【小题2】B
【小题3】D
【小题4】C
【小题5】A
解析【小题1】根据文章内容when you add the Japanese unlucky numbers together---nine and four ---they make thirteen.可知答案为D
【小题2】根据文章内容There aren’t many business meetings on the thirteenth of the month especially when the thirteenth is on a Friday.可知答案为B
【小题3】根据文章内容There were thirteen people at his last supper. In Europe, they kill criminals(罪犯) on Fridays.可知答案为D
【小题4】根据文章内容Friday is always unlucky. Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden (伊甸园) on a Friday. Jesus Christ died on a Friday. There were thirteen people at his last supper. In Europe, they kill criminals(罪犯) on Fridays.可知答案为C
【小题5】根据文章内容大意可知答案为A
Tony Buzan’s grades were going down at university. Disappointed with his low marks, he went to the library to find a book on how to use his brain. He was directed to the medical section. Confused, he said to the librarian, “I don’t want to take my brain out, I just want to learn how to use it.” Her reply was simple: “There’s no book on that.”
“I thought to myself,” says Buzan, “if I buy a little radio, I get an instruction manual (说明书). If I buy a microwave, I get an instruction manual. But for the most important machine in the world, no instruction manual?”
Fifty years later, Buzan has become the world’s leading speaker on the brain and learning. In the late 1960s, he invented the mind map, a visual representation of thought processes.
This kind of thinking has become a popular tool for planning, organizing, problem solving, and communicating across the world. He has since authored and co-authored over 100 books that have appeared in more than 30 languages.
“I think in most cases, people use less than 1 percent of their brains,” he says.
But how do you expand this 1 percent? How do you become the best student you can be?
According to Buzan, the answer is simple. You take a section of whatever it is that you are trying to learn, he says, and you read it for its essence (精髓、要素). Then you make a mind map of all the important details. For a truly effective mind map, you start with a colored image in the center of your page. Draw the first image that comes to mind on the topic you are mind mapping. Branch off from your central image and create one of your main ideas. From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-branches you can draw even more branches. He emphasizes that you should use plenty of images and colors as these help with memory recall and encourage creativity.
By using this visual format (形式), according to Buzan, your mind will begin to make associations that will help you remember more information for longer periods of time.
Buzan believes that traditional note-taking methods, such as lists and summaries, do not stimulate the brain’s recall capacity or ability in the same way. Because of this, students will often find themselves locked away in their rooms for hours, trying hard to memorize separate details. Buzan believes that for a more effective and lasting way of studying, you must first understand how your brain works.
“Everyone is born smart,” he says. “You just have to learn how to learn.”
【小题1】What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?
| A．To show that Tony Buzan was worried about his study. |
| B．To invite us to think about the importance of manuals. |
| C．To prove that the mind map is a useful tool for the brain. |
| D．To show why Tony Buzan studies the brain and learning. |
| A．Excite. | B．Improve. | C．Encourage. | D．Affect. |
| A．If we learn the mind map, we will become the best student. |
| B．The mind map will help your brain connect separate details. |
| C．The mind map will be more effective if we put more details in it. |
| D．We will solve the problem if we make connections between ideas. |
| A．How to make the mind map? |
| B．Is the mind map widely used? |
| C．Can your memory be mapped? |
| D．Is the mind map helpful in thinking? |
The high school diploma (文凭) is losing its value quickly, as a growing number of students graduate (毕业) from school without the math and reading skills that colleges and companies require, according to a new report.
The high school graduation exams that most states (州) require students to pass before they graduate remain far too easy. Most of the exams generally test eighth-or ninth-grade level work.
Today, even high school graduates who are going to have blue-collar (蓝领) jobs need to study the math, research and writing courses. But in high school, only students who are going to college are now required to take these courses.
“If you want a good job with a good pay, it’s a high-skill job,” said Michael Cohen, a leading member of the America Diploma Project.
The project suggests that all graduates master a wide range (范围) of skills. “A high school diploma should mean something to a company and university,” said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who is Achieve’s co-chairman.
In Taft’s state, about 30% students who go directly to college from high school have to take remedial classes of English or math, he said. It’s easy to see that the present high-school graduating standards are not preparing students for college education.
And with high-skilled jobs increasingly headed overseas to places like India and Ireland, states need to act, he said.
To prove why math and reading skills matter, the report includes real-life examples of problems students meet in college and that workers must solve each day on the job. ?
Some states are taking actions to upgrade the high school diploma. In Texas, all high school students, starting with the 2008 graduating class, will have to take the college-prep curriculum (大学预备课程) - unless a parent agrees to an easier course load. Other states are planning similar moves.
The report includes examples of reading and math skills that high-school students should have. Project leaders say they hope parents will use those examples to judge (评定) the coursework at their kids’ high schools.
【小题1】Why is the high school diploma losing its value quickly?
| A．Because the number of high school students is growing fast. |
| B．Because high school students fail to reach the standards. |
| C．Because the graduation tests are easier than it should be. |
| D．Because difficult courses are not required in high schools. |
| A．for good learners to study quickly and better |
| B．for slower learners weak in the subject |
| C．for learners to be taught one by one |
| D．for learners to reach a higher standard |
| A．Colleges require higher math and reading skills than companies. |
| B．It is easier for companies to find high-skilled workers in India. |
| C．Math and reading skills help little for workers to solve daily problems. |
| D．Parents ask high schools to offer college-prep curriculum in Texas. |
| A．High School Diploma Means Little |
| B．Give Students More High-skill Jobs |
| C．Math and Reading Skills Really Matter |
| D．Judge Coursework at High Schools |
 USBoy, 9, Plans to Take Balloon Flight AloneALBUQERQUE. New Mexico — Bobby Bradley is ready. He has been training for about five years and learned from some of the most experienced and decorated pilots in the sport of ballooning. |
 BENGHAZI, Libya — Muammar Gadhafi accepted an African Union(AU) plan to end the Libyan civil war but the opposite said on Monday there could be no deal unless he leaves office. |
 NEW YORK — A new book written by Amy Chua on her super-. strict parenting—Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has raised media (媒体) storm and strong arguments in the US. Amy Chua is the mother of two teenage girls. In the book she describes her efforts to give her children what she describes as a traditional, strict "Chinese" way of bringing up children. |
 TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s quake-hit nuclear plant( 受地震袭击的核电站) said on Sunday it aims to reduce radiation leaks(辐射泄漏) in three months and achieve a "cold shutdown" in six to nine months. |
 LOS ANGELES — Sunday night, the 83 annual (每年一度的) Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles. Colin Firth won the Best Actor for his role in "The King’s Speech”, and Natalie Port man won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in " Black Swan". |
Judge the following sentences True (T) or False (F).
【小题1】A 9-year-old American boy is ready to take a balloon flight on his own after training for about five years.
【小题2】Gadhafi agreed to end the Libyan civil war but the opposite wouldn’t accept it if he leaves office.
【小题3】"Tiger Mother" parenting raises media storm in the US, but all people agree other traditional, strict "Chinese" way of bringing up children.
【小题4】Japan tries to fix radiation leaks in 9 months.
【小题5】 Natalie won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in "The King’s Speech" while Colin won the Best Actor for his role in "Black Swan. "
