Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative meaning.

    So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

    Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.

    But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.

    “The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,”says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind.“But we are taught instead to ‘decide’, just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider’.”She adds, however, that“to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

    “All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,”she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.

    The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will…and Ms. Markova’s business partner. “That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”This is where developing new habits comes in.

Brain researchers have discovered that      .

    A.the forming of new habits can be guided

    B.the development of habits can be predicted

    C.the regulation of old habits can be transformed

    D.the track of new habits can be created unconsciously

The underlined word“ruts”in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to       .

    A.zones    B.connections  C.situations   D.tracks

Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?

    A.Decision makes no sense in choices.

    B.Curiosity makes creative minds active.

    C.Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.

    D.Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.

The purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us       .

    A.to give up our traditional habits deliberately

    B.to create and develop new habits consciously

    C.to resist the application of standardized testing

    D.to believe that old habits conflict with new habits

As a youngster, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to tidy living rooms that seemed to whisper, "Not to be touched!"
I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never approve. The walls were old; some stones were missing, others loose and falling. Still, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally, one spring afternoon, I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.
"I, uh-I want to climb the stone walls," I said. Everyone looked up. "Can I climb the stone walls? "Immediately voices of disagreement went up from the women in the room. "Heavens, no!" You'll hurt yourself!" I wasn't too disappointed; the response was just as I'd expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather's loud voice. "Now hold on just a minute," I heard him say. "Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself."
"Go," he said to me, "and come and see me when you get back." For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls -and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred," he said, smiling, "You made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there's only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are."
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. "There's only one person in this whole world like you," the kids can count on hearing me say, "and people can like you exactly as you are.”
【小题1】When the writer was small, he lived        .

A.in the cityB.on the farm
C.with his grandparentsD.away from his parents
【小题2】The writer enjoyed his visits to the farm because        .
A.there were old stone walls.B.it was an exciting place for him.
C.he liked his grandfather.D.the living room there was clean
【小题3】The underlined word “approve” in paragraph 2 means        .
A.proveB.suppose C.allow D.mind
【小题4】We can learn from the passage that the writer was        .
A.adventurousB.funnyC.smartD.talkative

Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Superstorm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.
If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.
Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.
Scanning
The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.
Storing the photos
With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.
You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer. 
Online backup
If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.     
Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.
Cloud Storage
For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for SkyDrive. But if you want more, you need to pay.
Bottom Line
The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are.
【小题1】Why does the author mention Superstorm Sandy?

A.To tell the background of the scanning photos.
B.To describe a severe natural disaster.
C.To attract the readers’ interest in the backups.
D.To win the readers’ sympathy.
【小题2】What can we know from the passage?
A.Scanning photos take little time but costs a lot.
B.Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive.
C.Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line.
D.The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest.
【小题3】Which of the following allows storing files automatically?
A.Dropbox. B.SkyDrive. C.Caronite.D.Flash drive.
【小题4】The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
A.introduce some of the storage services
B.tell real stories about storage services
C.describe the functions of storage services
D.argue about the advantage of storage services

Back those photos up

The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Super storm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.

If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.

Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.

Scanning

The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.

Storing the photos

With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.

You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer. 

Online backup

If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.     

Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.

Cloud Storage

For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s Sky Drive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for Sky Drive. But if you want more, you need to pay.

Bottom Line

The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are. 

1.Why does the author mention Super storm Sandy?

A. To tell the background of the scanning photos.     

B. To describe a severe natural disaster.

C. To attract the readers’ interest in the backups.       

D. To win the readers’ sympathy.

2. What can we know from the passage? 

A. Scanning photos take little time but costs a lot.  

B. Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive.

C. Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line.

D. The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest.

3. Which of the following allows storing files automatically?

A. Dropbox.         B. SkyDrive.     C. Caronite.     D. Flash drive.

4.The main purpose of the passage is to _____.

A. introduce some of the storage services

B. tell real stories about storage services 

C. describe the functions of storage services    

D. argue about the advantage of storage services

 

 

第二节:完形填空(共20小题;每小题 1  分,满分  20 分)

 阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从36-55 各题所给的四个选项(A,B,C,D)中,选出最佳选项。

    Once there was a group of men---- a young hot-blooded man and a big number of old folks, doing a timber(木料) job in a jungle.

This young man was very -36-. He always continued to work through his break time and -37- that those old folks were wasting time, having to -38- several times a day to drink and chat. As time went by, this young man noticed that -39- he worked through break time and hardly took a -40-,those old folks were chopping the same -41- of trees as he did and sometimes did more. It was as if they worked through the break time as he did. So he -42- to work harder the next day. Unfortunately the -43- were even worse.

One day, one of the old folks -44- him for a drink during their break time. That young man -45- and said that he had no -46- time! Then the old man smiled and said, “It is just a waste of effort to -47- chopping trees without re-sharpening your axe(斧子). Sooner or later you will -48- or be so tired as you have spent too much -49-.”

Suddenly the young man -50- that actually during break times while those old folks were having a chat, they were -51- re-sharpening their axes at the same time! And that’s how they could -52-faster than him, yet spending less time!

What we -53- is efficiency by making use of our skill and ability -54-. Only then can we have more time to do other things. Otherwise we will always keep saying…..I have no -55-!

36. A. weak        B. clever        C. hard-working    D. good-looking

37. A. admired      B. complained   C. reminded       D. predicted

38. A. plan         B. appear       C. work           D. break

39. A. even though   B. only if       C. because        D. unless

40. A. photo        B. rest         C. step            D. bath

41. A. weight       B. height       C. amount         D. price

42. A.failed        B. pretended     C. agreed          D. decided

43. A. marks       B. results        C. effects          D. conditions

44. A. invited      B. blamed        C. thanked        D. forgave

45. A. begged      B. argued        C. nodded         D. refused

46. A. wrong       B. valuable      C. extra           D. exact

47. A. mind        B. avoid        C. practice         D. keep

48. A. speed up     B. give up       C. watch out       D. turn out

49. A. energy      B. money        C. life            D. skill

50. A. warned     B. expected       C. realized        D. announced

51. A. also        B. hardly         C. seldom         D. never

52. A. talk        B. chop          C. walk           D. climb

53. A. abandon    B. introduce       C. need           D. teach

54. A. quickly     B. curiously       C. seriously        D. intelligently

55. A. time       B. tool            C. job            D. patience

 

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