The ability to memorize things seems to be a vanishing （消失的） technique．So what can we do to bring out brain cells back into action? A newly published book on memory, Moomvalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by American journalist Joshua Foer, makes a telling point, one that is an analysis of the importance of memorising events and stories in human history; the decline of its role in modem life; and the techniques that we need to adopt to restore the art of remembering．
As For points out, we no longer need to remember telephone numbers．Our mobile phones do that for us．We don't recall addresses either．We send emails from computers that store electronic addresses．Nor do we bother to remember multiplication tables （乘法表） ．Pocket calculators do the job of multiplying quite nicely．Museums, photographs, the digital media and books also act as storehouses for memories that once we had to keep in mind．
As a result, we no longer remember long poems or folk stories by heart, feats （技艺） of memory that were once the cornerstones of most people's lives．Indeed, society has changed so much that we no longer know what techniques we should employ to remember such lengthy works．We are, quite simply, forgetting how to remember．
And let's face it, there is nothing sadder than someone who has lost their mobile phone and who finds they cannot even phone home or call their parents or partners because they cannot remember a single telephone number．That is a sad example of loss of personal independence．So, yes, there is a need for us to he able to remember certain things in life．
Therefore, Foer's book outlines the methods that need to be mastered in order to promote our memories and regain the ability to recall long strings of names, numbers or faces．In the process, he adds, we will become more aware of the world about us．
The trick, Foer says, is to adopt a process known as " elaborative encoding", which involves transforming information, such as a shopping list, into a series of "absorbing visual images"．If you want to remember a list of household objects—potatoes, cottage cheese, sugar and other items, then visualise them in an unforgettable manner, he says．Start by creating an image of a large jar of potatoes standing in the garden．Next to it, imagine a giant tub of cottage cheese—the size of an outdoor pool—and then picture Lady Gaga swimming in it．And so on．Each image should be as fantastic and memorable as possible．
Using methods like this, it becomes possible to achieve great feats of memory quite easily, Foer says．It certainly seems to have worked for him: he won the annual US Memory Championships after learning how to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes; the first and last names of 156 strangers in 15 minutes; and a deck of cards in under two minutes．"What I had really trained my brain to do, as much as to memorise, was to be more mindful and to pay attention to the world around," he says．
These techniques employed by Foer to master his memory were developed by Ed Cooke—a British writer and a world memory championship grandmaster．He acted as Foer's trainer during preparations for the book and helped him achieve his championship performances．" Memory techniques do just one thing: they make information more meaningful to the mind, making the things we try to learn unforgettably bright and amusing," said Cooke．
【小题1】Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

Alice’s mother died when she was five. Although her brothers and sisters were loving and caring, their love couldn’t take the place of a mother’s. In 1925 Alice became my mother and told me that her family couldn’t even afford her a doll.

One afternoon in December 1982, when I was getting ready for Christmas, I suddenly decided to buy two dolls, one for my five-year-old daughter, Katie, and one for my old mother.

Things went smoothly when a friend told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home with the gifts! Knowing that my parents would also come to my house, I began to get ready for the most memorable day of my mother’s life.

Christmas Day arrived and so did Santa Claus at the planned time. Katie was very excited and happy all the time to welcome the Santa. My mother was enjoying watching Katie welcoming this special guest. As Santa turned to leave he looked again into his bag and took out one more gift. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, without thinking of her name being called, said that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift with a message card that read:

For Alice:

I was cleaning out my sleigh (雪橇) before my trip this year and came across this package that should be sent on December 25, 1925. The gift inside has aged, but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many apologies for the lateness of the gift.

Love,

Santa Claus

My mother was very excited and deeply moved to tears. She couldn’t speak but only held tightly in her arms the doll she had waited fifty-seven years to receive as tears of joy flew down her face. That doll made my mother the happiest “child”.

1.Why couldn’t Alice get a doll as a child?

A. Because her mother died quite early.

B. Because her family disliked her.

C. Because her family was very poor.

D. Because Alice didn’t love dolls.

2.What did the friend’s father do that Christmas morning?

A. He acted as Santa Claus to send Christmas gifts.

B. He went to her home to see Alice.

C. He bought some Christmas gifts for Katie.

D. He helped her to get Christmas gifts ready.

3.Why didn’t Alice expect there was also a gift for her?

A. The gifts from Santa Claus were usually for children.

B. The gift was forgotten many years ago.

C. The gift for her was bought by accident on the way.

D. The gifts for Katie were enough to share with her.

4.The author wrote the message card in order to _________.

A. show her deep apology to her mother

B. make it clear that Santa Claus didn’t forget her

C. show that Santa Claus was hard-working

D. make Alice believe the gift was exactly for her

5.From the last paragraph we can infer that _________.

A. old people still keeps something of childishness

B. we should always give our parents a surprise

C. old people usually feel lonely on festivals

D. we should spend more time with our parents

12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. "I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born," he told Good Morning America. "When I was very little," he said, "my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours."

When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fare, he collected cans (罐子) and bottles and raised more than $1,000 for them.

That trip was such a happy one that he made it a yearly action. "It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just fun," he said. "It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.

Every October, Robertson takes a new group of children to ride on the train —but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible (可用的) to disabled people. "He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train," his mother said.

But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, accepted the letter in person. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.

1.The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, ________.

A．he was frightened by it

B．he acted as a driver

C．he watched it for hours

D．he fell in love with it

2.The author says John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan, because he ________.

A．was greatly attracted to trains since early childhood

B．said so in Good Morning America

C．took a group of disabled children to travel by train

D．was taken to a train the day he was born

3.The underlined words "mind-blowing" can be replaced by ________.

A．important         B．terrible           C．amazing           D．disappointing

4.The disabled children were refused to get on the train because _________.

A．the trains then weren’t accessible to the disabled

B．Robertson had not saved enough money for the tickets

C．they couldn’t afford the train tickets

D．the driver would not allow them to do so

5.According to the last paragraph, we can see that Robertson is a ________ child.

A．helpful and crazy                       B．kind and clever

C．kind but boring                         D．lazy but kind

第四部分写作（共2节，满分25分）

第一节完成句子（共10小题，满分10分）

根据汉语提示，在空格处填入适当的单词使句意完整，每空只能填一个词，请将该部分答案写在答题纸上。

86. 为何不放松下来享受这种氛围呢？

Why _________  __________  and enjoy the atmosphere?

87. 他们花了很多钱给这个学校配备新电脑。

They spent a large amount of money ________ the school ________ new computers.

88. 他行动起来就像他认识你很久一样。

He acted as though he ________  ________ you for long.

89. 他宁愿站着死也不愿跪着生。

He __________ to die standing  __________ than live kneeling down.

90. –去附近的咖啡屋喝杯咖啡怎么样？   - 行！

- ______  ________  having a cup of coffee in the nearby coffee shop?

- All right.

91. – 你到家时一定给我电话！   - 一定。

- ______  ______ to ring me when you get home.

- Certainly I will.

92. 他今晚可能来参加我的生日聚会。

He ______  ______ to join in my birthday party tonight.

93. – 他既聪明，又勤奋，还喜欢提问。

- 难怪他总是班上最好的学生之一。

-He is clever and hardworking. Besides, he is fond of asking questions.

- ______  ______ he is among the top students of his class.

94. 只有当人们看见河面上的死鱼时，他们才意识到污染是多么严重。

Only when people saw the dead fish in the river ____ they ____ how serious the pollution was.

95. 据说下周他要去美国。那样的话，我就不能像以前那样经常见到他了。

It is said that he will go to America next week. ____  ____ , I won’t see him as often as before.

12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. "I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born," he told Good Morning America. "When I was very little," he said, "my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours."
When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fare, he collected cans (罐子) and bottles and raised more than $1,000 for them.
That trip was such a happy one that he made it a yearly action. "It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just fun," he said. "It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.
Every October, Robertson takes a new group of children to ride on the train —but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible (可用的) to disabled people. "He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train," his mother said.
But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, accepted the letter in person. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.
【小题1】The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, ________.