We often talk about ourselves as if we have permanent genetic defects(缺陷) that can never be changed. “I’m impatient.” “I’m always behind.” “I always put things 　　1 !” You’ve surely heard them. Maybe you’ve used them to describe　　　 ___2　 .

These comments may come from stories about us that have been 　3　 for many years—often from 　4　 childhood. These stories may have no 　5　 in fact. But they can set low expectations for us. As a child, my mother said to me, “Marshall, you have no mechanical (操作机械的) skills, and you will never have any mechanical skills for the rest of your life.” How did these expectations　 6　 my development? I was never 　7　 to work on cars or be around　 8　 . When I was 18, I took the US Army’s Mechanical Aptitude Test. My scores were in the bottom for the entire nation!

Six years later,　 9　 , I was at California University, working on my doctors degree. One of my professors, Dr. Bob Tannbaum, asked me to write down things I did well and things I couldn’t do. On the positive side, I　 10　 down, “research, writing, analysis, and speaking.” On the　 11　 side, I wrote, “I have no mechanical skills.”

Bob asked me how I knew I had no mechanical skills. I explained my life 　12 and told him about my 　13　 performance on the Army test. Bob then asked, “　 14　 is it that you can solve 　 15　 mathematical problems, but you can’t solve simple mechanical problems?”

Suddenly I realized that I didn’t 　16　 from some sort of genetic defect. I was just living out expectations that I had chosen to 　17　 . At that point, it wasn’t just my family and friends who had been　 18　 my belief that I was mechanically hopeless. And it wasn’t just the Army test, either. I was the one who kept telling myself, “You can’t do this!” I realized that as long as I kept saying that, it was going to remain true. 　19　 , if we don’t treat ourselves as if we have incurable genetic defects, we can do well in almost 　20　 we choose.

1. A. away 　　　　　 B. off 　　　　　　　 C. up 　　　　　　　　　 D. down

2. A. them 　　　　 B. myself 　　　　　 C. yourself 　　　　 D. others

3. A. said 　　　　　 B. spoken 　　　　　 C. spread 　　　　　 D. repeated

4. A. as long as 　 B. as far back as 　 C. as well as 　　　 D. as much as

5. A. basis 　　　　 B. plot 　　　　　　　 C. cause 　　　　　　　　　　 D. meaning

6. A. lead 　　　　　 B. improve　　　　　　 C. affect 　　　　　 D. change

7. A. encouraged B. demanded 　　 C. hoped 　　　　　 D. agreed

8. A. means 　　　 B. tools 　　　　　　 C. facilities 　　　　 D. hammers

9. A. therefore 　 B. somehow 　　　 C. instead 　　　　　 D. however

10. A. settled 　　 B. turned 　　　　　 C. took 　　　　　　　　　　 D. got

11. A. passive 　　　 B. active 　　　　　 C. negative 　　　　　 D. subjective

12. A. experiences 　　　 B. trips 　　　　　　　　　　 C. roads 　　　　　　 D. paths

13. A. unexpected B. poor 　　　　　　 C. excellent 　　　 D. average

14. A. When 　　　 B. What 　　　　　　 C. How 　　　　　　　 D. Why

15. A. complex 　 B. advanced　　　　　 C. common 　　　　 D. primary

16. A. arise 　　　　 B. separate　　　　　　 C. suffer 　　　　　 D. come

17. A. believe 　　 B. suspect 　　　　 C. adopt 　　　　　　 D. receive

18. A. weakening B. strengthening 　 C. abandoning 　 D. accepting

19. A. As a result 　　　 B. At the same time C. In addition 　　 D. On the contrary

20. A. anything 　　 B. something 　　 C. nothing 　　　　 D. all

完形填空
My husband Jack hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of ___16___, but the commercial aspects of it. Knowing he felt this ______17___, I decided one year to___18___the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so on. I reached for something _____19__just for Jack. The idea came in an unusual way.
　　 Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was______20______at the junior level at the school he attended and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match____21_____a team sponsored by a church.
　　 These youngsters from the church, dressed in shoes so_______22_____that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together,____23______our son’s team were in their beautiful new wrestling shoes.
　　 As the match began, I was_____24_____to see that the other team was wrestling without a helmet designed to____25_____a wrestler’s head. They clearly could not_____26_____ them. Well, our son’s team ended up defeating them and took every weight class. But as the other team ______27_____up from the mat, they walked around with a sense of pride that couldn’t admit______28______.
　　 Jack, seated beside me, shook his head_____29_____, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but______30_____like this could take the heart right out of them.” Jack loved_____31_____and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball. That’s when the ____32______for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and _____33______some wrestling helmets and shoes and sent them to the church.
　　 On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Jack what I had done and that this was his_______34_____from me. His smile was the_______35______ thing about Christmas that year.

It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world. Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world. For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　 A．People are curious in the same way.

　 B．People in different countries are interested in different things.

　 C．Men and women are curious about different things.

　 D．People of different ages are interested in different things

2.Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

A．the earth , the oceans and the sky                 B．man-made things

C．plants and animals               D．ocean water

3.When you run, your muscles need ____.

A．more nutrition and oxygen    B．more signals   

C．more salt                  D．water

4.A rock cracks _____.

A．in wet regions                                     B．in dry regions

C．at very high or very low temperatures     D．when salty water falls in

5.People are always curious because ____.

A．they cannot explain many things  B．they know nothing about the world

C．they know little about the world  D．they want to be scientists

     Apparently，we are safe neither at home nor in the business office.We use water in both places，but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects.These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house.They are released(set free)from water by daily actions like water running out of tap，spraying from garden pipes，or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines.As the water is moving.these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.

　　Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that“new smell, ”which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (通风), these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recognized.

　　These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while in the garage.

　　We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build-up ), the factory work environment ( an endless list of potentially dangerous substances ), and even home heating and cooling (the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that“there is no place like home.”

What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

　　A.The air we breathe in is harmful.

B.Chemicals are released in the running water.

C.Chemicals are added to the drinking water.

　　D. The water in everyday use is unsafe.

.In Paragraph 2, the underlined sentence means that .

　　A. homes and offices should be aired often

　　B. any pollution should be taken into consideration

　　C. bathing should be done with caution

　　D.we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us

What is the purpose of the passage?

　　A.To call on us to guard our water.

　　B.To show us that no place is like home.

　　C.To make us aware of the pollution around us.

　　D.To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe.