"What’s in a name?”According to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,there is not too much.“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. "But Shakespeare may have been wrong. In most cultures,names matter a great deal.
Americans choose names for their children with care. Parents usually think about the impression a name gives,not its meaning. Most Americans would consider a “Jennifer” more attractive than a“Bertha",for example. The last name,or,surname,must also be considered when choosing a first and middle name. A name like Lester Chester Hester would sound poetic,but odd. Parents would avoid names that remind them of people they don’t like. On the other hand,people might name their children after a respected elderly relative or even a famous person. The popularity of certain names can change with each new generation. Names that were once common,like Fanny or Elmer,sound old-fashioned today. But other names—like John and David,Mary and Sarah—have stood the test of time and continue to be favorites.
People in Ameica don’t always call their friends and relatives by their given names. Instead,they often use nicknames. Sometimes nicknames are short forms of a longer name. For instance,a girl named Elizabeth may be called Lisa,Beth or Betsy. As children grow up,they may decide for themselves which nickname they wish to be called.
Some people just go by the initials of their first and middle names,like B. J, or R. C. And of course,people may call their children or their sweethearts other special nicknames. Often they have a “sweet” flavor,like Honey or Sugar. What’s in a name? A world of significance. So if you’re choosing an English name for yourself,take care to choose a good one. A made—up name could sound strange to native English speakers. And a translation of your Chinese name may not make an appropriate name,either. But a good name can leave a positive and lasting impression.  As an American politician once said,“In real life,unlike in Shakespeare,the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears.”
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A.People change names in order to be popular with the new generanon.
B.Names will change by themselves in order to be popular.
C.Some names may no longer be popular among the new generation.
D.No names can stand the test of time.
【小题2】When choosing names,you should stick to the following principles EXCEPT that
A.the impression a name gives is more important than its meaning
B.you can name after a well-known person
C.surname should be paid attention to
D.you can create a name that is special
【小题3】The author will name a newly born baby girl________.
A.BerthaB.FannyC.YunyunD.Elizabeth
【小题4】What is the main idea of this passage?
A.Names have great significance to Americans.
B.Names change when time goes by.
C.Chinese people should be careful when choosing their English names.
D.Roses smell sweet by any other name.

My father had always been an alert(警觉的) observer of human character. Within seconds of meeting someone, he could sum up their strengths and weaknesses. It was always a challenge to see if any of my boyfriends could pass Dad’s test. None did. Dad was always right---they didn’t pass my test either. After Dad died, I wondered how I’d figure it out on my own.
That’s when Jack arrived on the scene. He was different from any other guy I’d dated. He could sit for hours on the piano bench with my mother, discussing some composers. My brother Rick loudly announced that Jack wasn’t a turkey like the other guys I’d brought home. Jack passed my family’s test. But what about Dad’s?
Then came my mother’s birthday. The day he was supposed to drive, I got a call. “Don’t worry,” he said, “but I’ve been in an accident. I’m fine, but I need you to pick me up.”
When I got there, we rushed to a flower shop for something for Mom. “How about gardenias?” Jack said, pointing at a beautiful white corsage(胸花). The florist put the corsage in a box.
The entire ride, Jack was unusually quiet. “Are you all right?” I asked. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he said. “I might be moving.” Moving? Then he added, “Moving in with you.” I nearly put the car on the sidewalk. “What?” I asked. “I think we should get married,” he said. He told me he’d planned his proposal in a fancy restaurant, but after the accident, he decided to do it right away. “Yes,” I whispered. We both sat dumbfounded, tears running down our cheeks. I’d never known such a tender moment. If only Dad were here to give his final approval.
“Oh, let’s just go inside.” Jack laughed. My mother opened the door. “Happy Birthday!” we shouted. Jack handed the box to her. She opened it up. Suddenly, her eyes were filled with tears. “Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “This is only the second gardenia corsage I’ve ever received. I was given one years ago, long before you kids were born.” “From who?” I asked. “Your father,” Mom said. “He gave me one right before we were engaged.” My eyes locked on Jack’s as I blinked away(眨掉) tears. Dad’s test? I knew Jack had passed.
【小题1】According to the text, we know the writer’s father was __________.

A.interested in observing things around
B.good at judging one’s character
C.strict with her boyfriend
D.fond of challenges
【小题2】What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?
A.Jack got the family’s approval except Dad’s.
B.Jack was different from any other boy.
C.Jack was getting on well with Mother.
D.Jack knew a lot about piano.
【小题3】The underlined word “proposal” in Paragraph 5 means __________.
A.piece of adviceB.wedding ceremony
C.celebration of birthdayD.offer of marriage
【小题4】On hearing “moving in with you”, the writer felt          .
A.pleasedB.worriedC.surprisedD.disappointed
【小题5】Why did the writer’s mother cry?
A.The gift was the same as the one her husband gave her.
B.She had never received such a beautiful gift.
C.Her daughter found her life partner at last.
D.The gardenia corsage was too expensive.

I cheated on a unit test in math class this morning during second period with Mr. Burke. Afterward, I was too sick to eat lunch just thinking about it.
I came straight home from school, went to my room, and lay on the floor trying to decide whether it would be better to run away from home now or after supper. Mostly I wished I was dead. It wasn't even an accident that I cheated.
Yesterday Mr. Burke announced there'd be a unit test and anyone who didn't pass would have to come to school on Saturday, most particularly me, since I didn't pass the last unit test. I did plan to study just to prove to him that I'm plenty smart—which I am mostly—except in math.
Anyway, I got my desk ready to study on . Just when I was ready to work, Nicho came into my room with our new rabbit and it jumped on my desk and knocked the flashcards all over the floor. What a mess! Nicho and I finally took the rabbit outside but then Philip came to my room and also Marty from next door and before long it was dinner.
After dinner my father said I could watch a special on television if I'd done all my homework. Of course I said I had. That was the beginning. I felt terrible telling my father a lie about the homework.
It was nine o'clock when I got up to my room and that was too late to study for the unit test so I lay in my bed with the light off and decided what I would do the next day when I was in Mr. Burke's math class not knowing the 8- and 9-times tables. So, you see, the cheating was planned after all.
The next day, I'd go into class as usual, acting like things were going just great. I'd sit down next to Stanley Plummer—he is so smart in math it makes you sick—and from time to time, I'd glance over at his paper to copy the answers.
Lying on the floor of my room, I begin to think that probably I've been bad all along. It just took this math test to clinch it. I'll probably never tell the truth again. I tell my mother I'm sick when she calls me to come down for dinner. She doesn't believe me, but puts me to bed anyhow. I lie there in the early winter darkness wondering what terrible thing I'll be doing next when my father comes in and sits down on my bed.
"What's the matter?" he asks. "I've got a stomachache," I say. Luckily, it's too dark to see his face. "Is that all?" "Yeah." "Mommy says you've been in your room since school." "I was sick there too," I say. "She thinks something happened today and you're upset." That's the thing that really drives me crazy about my mother. She knows things sitting inside my head the same as if I was turned inside out.
"Well," my father says. I can tell he doesn't believe me. "My stomach is feeling sort of upset." I hedge. "Okay," he says and he pats my leg and gets up.
Just as he shuts the door to my room I call out to him in a voice I don't even recognize as my own. "How come?" he calls back not surprised or anything. So I tell him I cheated on this math test. To tell the truth, I'm pretty much surprised at myself. I didn't plan to tell him anything.
He doesn't say anything at first and that just about kills me. I'd be fine if he'd spank me or something. And then he says I'll have to call Mr. Burke. It's not what I had in mind. "Now?" I ask surprised. "Now," he says. He turns on the light and pulls off my covers. "I'm not going to," I say.
But I do it. I call Mr. Burke, and I tell him exactly what happened, even that I decided to cheat the night before the test. He says I'll come on Saturday to take another test, which is okay with me, and I thank him a whole lot for being understanding and all.
"Today I thought I was turning into a criminal," I tell my father when he turns out my light. Sometimes my father kisses me good night and sometimes he doesn't. I never know. But tonight he does.
【小题1】After the author cheated on the math test, he felt ____________.

A.frightened because he might be caught
B.excited that he had succeeded
C.pleased that nobody knew it
D.unhappy because he had done something wrong
【小题2】By “It wasn't even an accident that I cheated”, the author means that ________.
A.he had planned not to study before the test
B.he decided to cheat when he knew there was going to be a test
C.he decided to cheat after he had wasted the whole evening
D.he had planned to cheat with Plummer before the test
【小题3】The author’ mother often drives him crazy because _____-.
A.She really knows what he is thinking
B.she was very strict with him
C.she doesn’t believe him
D.she asks him to come down for dinner
【小题4】After he was informed of what he had done, the father _______.
A.scolded the author severely
B.didn’t say anything and left
C.called Mr. Burke immediately
D.let the author make a call to Mr. Burke
【小题5】The author’s father kissed the author good night because ________-.
A.he had done something unusual
B.he promised to study math harder
C.he was willing to take a make-up test
D.he realized his mistake and had the courage to admit it


Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent(聪明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of  “grey matter” and
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about mine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children ad young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors(祖先) ,among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A.Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s
B.Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.
C.Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.
D.Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.
【小题2】What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?
A.Women prefer doing many things at a time.
B.Men do better dealing with one job at a time.
C.Women do not need to tell directions.
D.Men have weaker spatial abilities.
【小题3】 Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?
A.Young boys may be stronger than young girls.
B.More women take up jobs requiring speech skills
C.Women may have stronger feelings than men.
D.Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.
【小题4】What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
A.Defensive.B.Persuasive.C.Supportive.D.Objective.

When we're learning a foreign language, making sense of what we hear is the first step toward fluency. It sounds obvious, but until recently, we didn't know much about how listening works. New research shows that effective listening involves more than simply hearing the words that float past our ears. Rather, it's an active process of analysing information and making meaning.

Studies of skilled language learners have identified specific listening strategies that lead to excellent comprehension. In addition to that benefit, research has shown that learners who adopt these strategies become better listeners.

So what are listening strategies? Skilled learners go into a listening activity with a sense of what they want to get out of it. They set a goal for their listening, and they make predictions about what the speaker will say. Before the talking begins, they review what they already know about the subject, and form an intention to “listen out for”what's important. Once they begin listening, these learners maintain their focus; if their attention wanders, they bring it back to the words being spoken. They don't allow themselves to be thrown off by confusing or unfamiliar details. Instead, they take note of what they don't understand and later make inferences(推测)about what those things might mean, based on other clues available to them: their previous knowledge of the subject, the identity of the speaker, and so on. All the while, skilled learners are evaluating what they're hearing and their own understanding of it. They're checking their inferences to see if they're correct.

Such strategies are all about thinking, and they produce a variety of benefits. Research indicates that such learners are better at analysing and storing new information, better at finding the best ways to practice what they have learned. Last year, for example, University of Ottawa researcher Larry Vandergrift published his study of 106 undergraduates who were learning French as a second language. Half of the students were taught in a traditional fashion, listening to and practicing texts spoken aloud. The other half, dealing with the same skill level and taught by the same teacher, were given clear instruction on how to listen. In the journal Language Learning, Vandergrift reported the results: The second group “significantly outperformed(胜过)” the first one on a test of comprehension. In a 2006 study by researchers from Singapore, Chinese speakers who were learning English as a second language reported increased motivation and confidence after they were taught metacognitive strategies.

Though listening is often treated as a way to make others feel appreciated, it's also one of the most powerful tools we have to gain information and insight(洞察力).

General idea of paragraphs

Detailed information

__1.__of effective listening

It includes our hearing the words and _2._of the information to get the meaning.

The _3.__of specific listening strategies

It will lead to excellent comprehension.

Learners _4._them can become better listeners.

Listening strategies

Review the _5.__fact about the subject.

Set a goal for listening.

__6.__the speaker's information.

Maintain the _7.__on the words being spoken.

Take note of the confusing details for later inferences.

Evaluate the information being heard, the understanding of it and its __8.__.

The results of the experiment

Learners are more __9.__and confident.

_10.__

Listening can make others feel appreciated and help the listeners gain information and insight.

 

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