Being able to multitask---doing several things at the same time---is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.

What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.

Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people give so much attention to their own worlds, they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.

Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response. However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive.

Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.

1.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

2.In Paragraph 3, the author points out that  ________.

3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

4.The author develops the passage mainly by ________.

C

Being able to multitask—doing several things at the same time—is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.

What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.

Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.

Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.

1.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

2.In Paragraph 3, the author points out that      .

3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

4.The author develops the passage mainly by    .

C
Geniuses amaze us, impress us and make us all a little jealous．How do they differ from the average person? Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer．Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old, he began to play the piano．After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven．Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight．He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears．He seems to be specially designed for music．In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies (神童) to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Genius didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh．His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain．After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and pictures．So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art．Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine．Sufferers of autism and brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease．Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no signs of extraordinary intelligence．Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately．As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards．Make Me a Genius examines what it takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be one．Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky．Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.
51．My Brilliant Brains is most probably from _______.
A．a website           B．the radio               C．a magazine          D．a newspaper
52．The author takes Marc Yu as an example to show that a child prodigy is        .
A．a person who learns something easily
B．a child who is eager to learn new things
C．a student who practices an instrument a lot
D．a kid who works hard to do well in school
53．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．New things about the brain are still being discovered.
B．People without natural abilities can learn to do things well.
C．Some people naturally have more active brains.
D．People are usually smarter when they recover from brain injury.
54．From the passage, we know that ___________
A．scientists completely understand the brain
B．people can only be born as geniuses
C．there’s no such thing as a true genius
D．there are many factors in being a genius
55．The author develops the passage mainly by ___________.
A．providing typical examples
B．following the natural time order
C．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
D．comparing opinions from different scientists

Almost 40 years ago, a community service organization started providing eye care in Gujarat State, in western India.

The Rotary Club of Navsari operates an eye hospital and 9 area eye centers in and around Navsari, whose services are for the poorest people.

       The group opened the hospital, the Rotary Eye Institule of Navsari, in 1970. Institute officials say India has only about one ophthalmologist for every 120,000 people. The Institute, however, has ten such specially trained eye doctors. It has restored or improved the eyesight of thousands of patients. Many people far from the city. Teams from it travel as far as 150 kilometers to see patients. People go to their nearest camp, for conditions including glaucoma（青光眼）, night blindness and other problems. Some people are found to have cataracts, abnormal growths on the eye that can lead to loss of eyesight. India has about 13 million people with the condition. Cataract patients get free operations to correct the problem.

Rotary groups also operate eye banks. Doctors at these centers replace damaged eyes with the healthy eyes of donors who have just died. One such center is the Rotary Rajan Eye Bank. It operates in coopertation with the Rajan Eye Care Hospital in Chennai. The Eye Bank opened in 1996. Hundreds of patients have received new corneas from donors since then. The cornea is the clear front part of the eye that transmits light. 2 million people in India are blind because of problems of the cornea. The Rotary Rajan Eye Bank holds continuing eye donation campaigns. It urges people to leave the gift of sight to others when they die.

1．Which of the following is TRUE about the Rotary Club of Navsari?

      A．The Rotary Club of Navsari is a community service organization.

       B．The Rotary Eye Institute of Navsari has only one eye doctor.

       C．The Rtary Club of Navsari includes 9 area eye centers in big cities.

       D．The Rotary Club of Navsari offers free operation to all the poor patients.

2．The underlined word “ophthalmologist” in Paragraph 2 refers to         .

       A．a physician who specializes in eyes        B．a worker working in countryside

       C．a patient suffering eye problems            D．a volunteer working in eye centers

3．We can infer form the passage that       .

       A．there are 13 million Indians having eye problems in total

       B．the Rotary Eye Instiute of Navsari is located in the center of India

       C．the medical treatment is convenient for the local residents

       D．Transportation in Navsari is difficult

4．According to the last paragraph, the Rotary Rajan Eye Bank gets new corneas mainly by    .

       A．cloning                B．donating              C．cooperating               D．forcing

5．The author develops the passage mainly by      .

      A．providing typical examples

       B．making a definition

       C．comparing two different areas

       D．presenting two examples and drawing a conclusion