Vincent van Gogh’s paintings were at last _____ as works of genius.

A. practiced    B. recognized           C. realized        D. promised

The sea horse is a magical animal, which has puzzled （使困惑） people for thousands of years. In ancient Rome sea horses were believed to be the babies of Neptune’s horses. And Neptune was the god of the ocean. Now we know they are not horses at all — they are a kind of fish. They still seem as magical as ever, especially to divers who have watched them horsing around(瞎闯) in the sea. But today, sea horse populations face an uncertain future. Fishermen are catching too many of them, and their undersea habitats （栖息地） are being destroyed.

At least 20 million sea horses are taken from the ocean each year. More than 95% are used for traditional medicines in Asian countries. The sea horses are usually dried and then made into powder which is used to treat such problems as asthma（哮喘）, throat infections, skin diseases and cuts. How well the medicines work is unclear.

Sea horses are also bought and sold in large numbers as pets. Sea horse expert Amanda Vincent warns against buying pet sea horses. “A lot of people treat them as if they’re goldfish,” she says. But sea horses require very special care and live food. Most captive (被猎取的) sea horses pick up diseases and die.

Sea horse experts are trying to teach fishermen to become sea horse farmers. Instead of pulling nets of sea horses from the ocean, fishermen could learn to raise them in specially designed saltwater “farms”. That way, fishermen would have sea horses to sell, but ocean populations would not be hurt.

Vincent and her team have only discovered the 35 different species of sea horses, and they still have plenty of sea horse secrets left to unlock. That is why, Vincent told TFK, protecting future sea horse populations is especially important: “I promise your readers that by the time they grow up to be marine biologists, we’ll still have a lot to learn.”

1.In the past, Romans thought the sea horse to be ______.

A．a kind of horse                         B．a kind of fish

C．the god of the ocean                     D．one of Neptune’s pets

2.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．People in Asian countries hunt sea horses for food.

B．Most sea horses caught are used as medicine.

C．The effects of the powder of sea horses are uncertain.

D．35 different kinds of sea horses have been discovered.

3.The underlined phrase “pick up” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.

A．follow            B．collect            C．get              D．create

4.It can be inferred that the best way to protect sea horses is to ______.

A．do more research on sea horses

B．teach fishermen how to farm sea horses

C．stop hunting sea horses

D．ban the sea horse trade

No one doubts that students should study languages, maths and science in high school, but some may object to the idea that they should study art and music as well. To them, these subjects are useless for students’ future and are not worth the time and effort. In my opinion, however, it is necessary for middle school students to study art and music.
Art and music are a precious culture legacy（遗产）, which bring us pleasure and enjoyment. Have you ever been deeply moved by Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony（第五交响曲）? Have you ever been fascinated by the colorful starry night produced by Vincent Van Gogh in his paint? Have you ever longed for the moving love between the Butterfly Lovers when you hear this well-known Chinese melody（曲调）? Art and music are not only images and sounds, but something beyond them. They are the products of passion and human wisdom（智慧）.
Art and music help make students more creative. Artists and musicians are considered the most creative people in the world. It is because art and music sharpen their senses and provide a different perspective (视角) for them to see the world. Many great scientists benefited from art and music. Einstein, the greatest physicist in the 20th century, as well as an excellent violin player, is a good example.
Enjoying art and music is also a good way to relax. Middle school students, who typically carry heavy burdens of study, will definitely（明确地）benefit from it.
To sum up, art and music should absolutely be included in the middle school courses, for they can bring students pleasure and relaxation.
【小题1】According to the author, people who think art and music are useless for middle school students __________.

It makes no difference what you read or study if you can't remember it. You just waste your valuable time．【小题1】  One dependable aid that does help you remember what you study is to have a specific purpose or reason for reading．
Why does a clerk in a store go away when your reply to her offer to help is, “No, thank you．I'm just looking.”? Both you and she know that if you aren't sure what you want, you are not likely to find it．But suppose you say instead, “Yes, thank you．I want a pair of sun glasses.” She says, “Right this way, please”
 【小题2】  If you choose a book, “just looking” for nothing in particular, you are likely to get just that--nothing．But if you do know what you want, you are almost sure to get it．Your reasons will vary; they will include reading or studying “to find out more about”, “to understand the reasons for” and “to find out how”．
 【小题3】  Before you start to study, you say to yourself something like this, “I want to know why Stephen Vincent Benet happened to write about America”．Because you know why you are reading or studying, you relate the information to your purpose and remember it better．
【小题4】  At least two important processes go on at the same time．As you read, you take in ideas rapidly and accurately. But at the same time you express your own ideas to
yourself as you react to what you read. You have a kind of mental conversation with the author．
This additional process of thinking about what you read includes evaluating it, relating it to what you already know, and using it for your own purposes．【小题5】  One part of critical reading, as you have discovered, is distinguishing between facts and opinions．Facts can be checked by evidence, opinions are one’s own personalreactions．Another part of critical reading is judging sources．Still another part is drawing accurate inferences．

The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like “I never do anything right” into positive ones like “I can succeed.” But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?
　　Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.
　　The study’s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is very positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your stupid friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you’re just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.
　　In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students’ self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, “I am lovable.”
　　Those with low self-esteem didn’t feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren’t urged to think positive thoughts.
　　The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.
【小题1】What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?