Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials increase the length of time we will remember it.

In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.

The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表) are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood. The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习) for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.

1.What’s the main idea of Paragraph 1?

A. Children have a better memory than grown-ups.

B. People remember well what they learned in childhood.

C. Poem reading is a good way to learn words.

D. Stories for children are easy to remember.

2.The author explains the law of overlearning by ________.

A. presenting research findings

B. setting down general rules

C. using examples

D. making a comparison

3.According to the author, being able to use multiplication tables is ________.

A. a result of overlearning

B. a special case of cramming

C. a skill to deal with math problems

D. a basic step towards advanced studies

4.What is the author's opinion on cramming?

A. It leads to failure in college exams.

B. It increases students' learning interest.

C. It's possible to result in poor memory.

D. It's helpful only in a limited way.

Because plants cannot move or talk, most people believe that they have no feelings and that they cannot receive signals from outside. However, this may not be completely true.

People who studied plants have found out that plants carry a small electrical charge (电荷). It is possible to measure this charge with a small piece of equipment called “galvanometer”. The galvanometer is placed on a leaf of the plant, and it records any changes in the electrical field of the leaf. Humans have a similar field which can change when we are shocked or frightened.

A man called Backster used a galvanometer for his studies of plants and was very surprised at his results. He found that if he had two or more plants in a room and he began to destroy one of them -- perhaps by pulling off its leaves or by pulling it out of its pot-then the galvanometer on the leaves of the other plants showed a change in the electrical field. It seemed as if the plants were signaling a feeling of shock. This happened not only when Backster started to destroy plants, but also when he destroyed other living thing such as insects (昆虫).

Backster said that the plants also knew if someone had destroyed a living thing some distance away, because they signalled when a man who had just cut down a tree entered the room.

Another scientist, named Sauvin, achieved similar results to Backster’s. He kept galvanometers fixed on his plants all the time and checked regularly to see what the plants were doing. If he was out of the office, he telephoned to find out about the signals the plants were sending. In this way, he found that the plants were sending out signals at the exact times when he felt strong pleasure or pain. In fact, Sauvin could cause a change in the electrical field of his plants over a distance of a few miles simply by thinking about them.

1.Backster was surprised at the results of his studies because _____.

A. he destroyed an insect

B. he destroyed a plant by pulling off its leaves

C. he found that plants could express feelings of shock

D. he found that plants could move and speak after all

2.The plants sent out signals _____.

A. only when Backster Started to destroy plants

B. when Backster destroyed plants or other living things

C. only when he destroyed things such as insects

D. only when Backster placed the galvanometer on the leaves of the plants

3.The scientist called Sauvin _____.

A. did not agree with Backster’s ideas

B. did not get the same sort of results as Backster did

C. got different results from Backster’s

D. found out some of the same things that Backster did

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Sauvin could make his plants send out signals some distance away.

B. A tree will signal when it has been cut down.

C. The electrical charge plants carry may shock or frighten us.

D. Plants have feelings because they can receive signals without moving.

Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday.Today,more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns(客栈) instead of hotels.They get a room with breakfast the next morning.

Rooms for the night in private(私人的) homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five or ten years, these bed and breakfast places have become popular in the United States.Many of these American’s bed-and-breakfast inns are old historic buildings. Some bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms, while others are much larger.Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, but others do.

Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel.Usually the cost is much less.Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home.The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.

1.Americans take a holiday trip ________.

A. all the year roundB. for years

C. every yearD. every other year

2.Why do American travelers prefer staying at bed-and-breakfast inns?

A. It is like visiting someone’s home.

B. The money they spend there is much less.

C. They can meet local families.

D. All of the above.

3.Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns, ________.

A. the travelers needn’t pay anything

B. the travelers have to pay for the telephones or televisions

C. the travelers can meet and talk with the local people

D. the owners will show the travelers around the area

4.Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A. European and American vacationers like staying at bed-and-breakfast inns.

B. All Americans enjoy traveling.

C. These bed-and-breakfast inns are all old historic buildings.

D. Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is just like at the traveler’s home.

Why do we dream?It's a question researchers have been studying for years. Now new research suggests that some dreams may result from the brain's effort to keep learning, even as we sleep.

In a study in Boston, 100 volunteers were trained for an hour on a maze (迷宫).They tried to find their way through the difficult puzzle as quickly as possible. Then half of the volunteers were allowed to sleep for 90 minutes. The other half stayed awake, reading or relaxing. The ones who slept were asked to describe their dreams when they woke up.

After the rest, the volunteers were asked again to solve the maze. Those who hadn't slept showed no improvement or did even worse after the break. Sleepers who didn't report any maze related dreams did better but showed only a little improvement. However, four nap-takers who reported dreaming about the maze showed a surprising improvement. They scored 10 times higher after sleeping and dreaming about the maze.

Even though the number of dreamers was small, the researchers noted that the gap in learning between the dreamers and non-dreamers was so wide that the finding was significant (有意义的).

The dreamers had all performed poorly on the test before dreaming about it. That suggests that struggling with a task might be the trigger that leads the sleeping brain to focus on it and work on how to deal with it.

“It's almost as if your brain is going through everything that happened today,”Dr Stickgold,a scientist at Harvard Medical School, said. “The things you're obsessed (迷住) with are the ones that your brain forces you to continue to do with.”

1.What's the best title for this passage?

A.Learning while you dreamB.What dreams stand for

C.Dream a good dreamD.Dreams and health

2.What were the volunteers asked to do after the rest?

A.To work on a new maze.

B.To continue to do the maze.

C.To talk with each other about their dreams.

D.To tell what they thought about the maze.

3.According to the study, which group showed the greatest improvement?

A.Those who didn't sleep.

B.Those who slept but didn't dream.

C.Those who dreamed about the maze while sleeping.

D.Those who thought about the maze before falling asleep.

4.The underlined word “trigger” in Paragraph 5 probably means “________”.

A.chanceB.causeC.wayD.idea

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