【题目】In the story of “The crow and the Pitcher” from Aesop’s Fables, a thirsty crow(乌鸦) drops stones into a narrow jar to raise the low level of water inside so he can take a drink.

Now scientists have evidence to back up that story. New Caledonian crows actually do understand how to make water displacement work to their advantage, experiments showed. The results suggest that the birds are, at least in some aspects, as smart as first-graders, according to the study.

Researchers, led by Sarah Jelbert at the university of Auckland in New Zealand, presented six crows with tubes filled with water. Inside the tubes, a worm or piece of meat on a piece of wood was floating, just out of reach of the crow. In front of the tubes, the researchers arranged a bunch of heavy rubber erasers that would sink, and light plastic objects that would float. The crows found out that they could drop the heavy objects into the tubes in order to raise the water level and get their snack.

However, the birds handled awkwardly in experiments in which they could choose to drop objects in either a wide tube or a narrow tube to get a snack, the researchers said. Dropping objects into narrow tube would lift the water level by a greater amount and put the treat within reach after just two drops. In contrast, it took around seven drops to raise the snack to the same level in the wide tube. The crows obviously didn’t realize this, and most of them went for the wide tube first.

Previous studies showed that chimps and human children can solve similar tasks. In a 2011 study, chimps and kids found out that they could put water into a tube to reach a peanut that was floating in small amount of water at the bottom.

1What does the text focus on?

A. Aesop’s prediction B. Crow’s intelligence

C. The development of crows D. Human-animal communication

2How did the crows get the worm in a tube in Sarah’ experiment?

A. By dropping in the heavy erasers. B. By removing the plastic objects.

C. By standing on the wood. D. By breaking the tube.

3What does the underlined part “the treat” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A. The tube. B. The object.

C. The snack D. The water.

4What did the experiment with wide and narrow tubes show?

A. Crows are sensitive to surroundings.

B. Crows have the ability to recognize shapes.

C. Crows are cleverer than chimps and children.

D. Crows understand water displacement incompletely.

【题目】 Ladies, if you find yourselves wandering an unknown city with a man who is questioning your directional abilities, don’t doubt yourselves.

A recent small study published in the journal Psychological Science found that the longstanding theory that women have a more difficult time reading maps wasn’t true.

Historically, men have performed better than women in studies that tested their spatial(空间的)ability. But the leading study author Margaret Tarampi and a researcher from the University of California, Santa Barbara theorized that social influences had an effect on this outcome: The cultural belief that women are worse at reading maps could be seen as a stereotype(固有模式) threat, meaning women believe they’re bad at something, so they perform poorly as a result. The researchers also theorized that women performed better at skills that involve a social element. In other words, if reading a map means helping someone else, they might perform better.

Tarampi and her team tested both theories on undergraduate students at UCSB across three separate experiments. And, indeed, the results showed that men scored better than women only when they were mentioned the stereotype of male superiority before the test.

When the researchers did not mention it and gave a social context for reading the map, women’s scores improved across the board. Women also performed better when the test maps simply included human figures, rather than just random objects and landmarks.

So ladies, next time you struggle to figure out whether you should make a left or right at the Louvre, take out your tourist map with a healthy dose of confidence.

1What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A.To warn women of one of their shortcomings.

B.To introduce the topic of the passage.

C.To encourage women to read maps.

D.To state a social phenomenon.

2Women are thought to be worse at reading maps because of .

A.a poor sense of directionB.a lack of experience

C.a social stereotypeD.threats from others

3Men performed better than women in the study when .

A.they were asked to help someone else by reading a map

B.they were informed of the stereotype before the test

C.the test maps simply included human figures

D.there were social elements in the map

4What can be concluded from the passage?

A.Women can read maps as well as men.B.Women are better drivers than men.

C.Women always have difficulty reading maps.D.Women are better at spatial ability.

【题目】I dropped out of college after my freshman year. Three years later, I quit a dead-end job and returned college. I saw school as my way out. But I quickly found myself facing the same roadblocks that had caused me to quit before: I was confused with college-level algebra and a heavy workload of reading and writing assignment. Moreover, I was unsure of my career direction. I was ready to drop out again. Then a smartly-dressed woman walked confidently to the front of my English composition class. “Look at you! Look at each and every one of you,” she said. “You’re here to change your lives for the better. And you’re going to make it!” I can’t remember the rest of the speech, but it changed the course of my college career and my life.

Mrs. Smith didn’t know me from any of the other 40 faces in her classroom, but I felt she speaking directly to me. Having trouble keeping up with the workload? Break it down into small pieces, and set up a schedule that suits you. If college algebra is too difficult, drop back to introductory college math. As for English composition, she gave us writing assignments we could relate to. “Go for the best, kid. You’re worth it,” she’d say.

I graduated from that college and went on to get my bachelor’s degrees. Today, as a college instructor, each fall when I stand in front of a new class, I think of Mrs. Smith and how much teachers can affect their students. She couldn’t have known it when she gave that pep talk, but she made a huge difference in my life.

1Why did the author want to quit school again?

A. He wanted to return to hid former job. B. He decided on his future career.

C. The academic pressure seemed unbearable. D. Many changes took place in his life.

2How did Mrs. Smith help the author?

A. She made him feel relaxed. B. She helped him with algebra.

C. She talked to him directly. D. She brought him courage and faith.

3What can we infer about the author?

A. He learnt to be a better teacher.

B. He didn’t finish his college education.

C. He became Mrs. Smith’s favorite student.

D. He didn’t understand the writing assignments.

4What can be the best title for the text?

A. Always believe in yourself.

B. Never quit before trying.

C. Experience is worth valuing.

D. A lady changed my life in time.

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