A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain(鄙视).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments(评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended(假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
【小题1】What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow showed off its flying skills.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow laughed at the swan’s flying.
d. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
e. The crow challenged the swans and a strong young swan accepted it.

　 A group of swans (天鹅) flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around . The crow watched them with disdain (鄙视).

“You have no flying skills at all ! ” he said to the swans. “ All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air ? No , that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying compitition. I’ll show you what real flying is ! ”

　 One of the swans , a strong young male , took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.

Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up , and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him , making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.

The swan pretended ( 假装) not to notice , and said, “ Why do you keep touching the water , brother ? Is that another trick ?”　　　 “ No ,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “ I’m in trouble because of my pride ! If you don’t help me , I’ll lose my life… “

The swan took pity on him , and took him on his shoulders (肩膀) and flew back to the beach.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填入题前括号内。

(　 ) 62. What’s the correct order of the following events ?

a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.

　 b.The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.

　 c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.

　 d.The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.

A. a , d , b , c　　 B. a , b , d , c ,　 C. d , a , c , b ,　 D. d , c , a , b

(　 ) 63.Who has better skills according to the crow ?

　 A. The swan.　　 B. The crow.　　 C. Both the swan and the crow.　　 D. He didn’t know.

(　 ) 64.What does the underlined word “exhausted “ in Paragraph 4 mean ?

　 A. Bored. 　　 B. nervous.　　 C. Tired .　　　 D. Frightened.

(　 )65. Which of the following is right according to the text ?

　 A. A group of crows met a swan on a beach.　 B. The crow could fly as well as the swan.

　 C.The swan wasn’t afraid of the challenge.　 D. The swan flew away and the crow died.

(　 ) 66.What can we learn from the passage ?

A. No pains , no gains. B. Pride goes before a fall. C. The early bird catches the worm.　 D. Practice makes perfect.

How would you like to study at an American university in China? With the news that New York University (NYU) is considering setting up a branch（分校）on Chinese mainland, the possibility of getting an American education becomes a reality. But how will Chinese students deal with a very different style of teaching? One that encourages debate（辩论）, discussion and critical thinking (批判思维)； one which puts little attention on rote learning.

You know how kids ask questions all the time? Asking questions shows they are curious (好奇). So when does that natural curiosity get weak? Not at kindergarten or nursery, nor at primary school. As you grow older perhaps refusing to draw attention to yourself by asking the teacher questions, you grow quiet. If so, that's a pity, because questioning your teachers should be encouraged. After all, they're the ones who've been educated, have a lot more experience than you and perhaps have a little wisdom. When I taught joumalim at college in Scotland I enjoyed answering students' questions. Some of them raised difficult questions. I didn't always know the answers. If I didn't, I'd accept it and try to find out later.

At university we were encouraged to challenge our classmates and teachers. There was often a regular meeting between teachers and some students. A student would prepare a paper on a subject and the other students would criticize it. It could be frightening. But it was a way of developing critical thinking.

We need to differentiate critical thinking with loudmouths. We've all come across loudmouths who speak out quickly as if they knew what they were talking about. I know one loudmouth who is paid a great deal of money by a British tabloid newspaper to entertain readers with his deeply-held prejudices(偏见). You might not agree with columnist(专栏作家) Richard Littlejohn, but you have to say that he is entertaining and there is an internal logic（内在的逻辑）to his statements. Having a logical mind can help develop critical thinking.

My wife doesn't have a logical mind, but she does have emotional intelligence（情商）. I can't say that I have anything like her emotional intelligence. but I'd like to think some of it rubbed off on me. If you can't at least try to put yourself in someone else's shoes, how can you understand their situation, their problems and issues?

So try to develop your powers of critical thinking. Start with books, films, music and newspapers. And don't believe everything you read or see. Think independently.

57. According to the passage, to develop your critical thinking, you can____________.

A. keep curious and follow your heart

B. think logically, not emotionally

C. do more reading and think actively

D. voice your opinion like a loudmouth

58. The underlined words 66rubbed off on mc" in Paragraph 5 probably mean " __________".

A. helped me solve the problem better

B. had some influence on me in a way

C. moved it backwards and forwards

D. advised me to wear others' shoes

59. What can be the best title for the passage?

A. Want to be different? Think critically

B. Want to be critical? Think for yourself

C. Choose NYU, choose critical thinking

D. Importance of improving critical thinking