D

Even a child knows that nodding(点头) the head means “Yes”. But some people will probably be puzzled when they first come to India. When they talk to an Indian, he often shakes his head. They might think that the Indian does not like what he said, but on the contrary he is expressing agreement.

The Indians have a habit of shaking their heads slightly when they talk to somebody. It doesn’t mean “No”, but “Yes”.If a person doesn’t know this, it might cause misunderstanding.

At one time a foreigner in India told his driver who was an Indian to take him to his office. The driver shook his head. The foreigner repeated his request and the driver shook his head again. At last, the foreigner shouted angrily, “Drive me to my office at once!” The driver said in a low voice, “Yes, sir,” smiling and shaking his head again at the same time.

68. Generally speaking, nodding the head means _______, and shaking the head means _______.

A. Yes, No             B. No, Yes             C. Yes, Yes            D. No, No

69. According to the habit of India, if someone agrees with you, he will _______.

A. nod his head

B. shake his head

C. neither nods his head nor shakes his head

D. either nod his head or shake his head

70. Why did the Indian driver shake his head when the foreigner asked him to drive him to his office? Because _______.

A. the Indian driver has something important to do

B. the foreigner promised to give him only a little money

C. The driver felt uncomfortable at that time

D. In India shaking the head means agreement

71. Why did the foreigner become angry? Because _______.

A. the Indian driver didn’t want to send him to his office

B. the Indian driver asked him for a lot of money

C. He misunderstood the meaning of shaking the head in India

D. he asked the driver to send him to his office, but the driver didn’t say any words

     A study published in September suggests there is a surprising way to get people to avoid unhealthy foods: change their memories. Scientist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California at Irvine asked volunteers to answer some questions on their personalities (个性) and food experiences. “One week later,” Loftus says, “we told those people we'd fed their answers into our smart computer and it came up with an account of their early childhood experiences.” Some accounts included one key additional detail (细节): “You got sick after eating strawberry ice-cream.” The researchers then changed this detail into a manufactured (人为促生的) memory through leading questions—Who were you with? How did you feel? By the end of the study, up to 41% of those given a false memory believed strawberry ice-cream once made them sick, and many said they'd avoid eating it.

    When Loftus published her findings, she started getting calls from people begging her to make them remember hating chocolate or French fries. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. False memories appear to work only for foods you don't eat on a regular basis. But most important, it is likely that false memories can be implanted (灌输) only in people who are unaware of the mental control. And lying to a patient is immoral, even if a doctor believes it's for the patient's benefit.

    Loftus says there's nothing to stop parents from trying it with their overweight children. “I say, wake up—parents have been lying about Father Christmas for years, and nobody seems to mind. If they can prevent diseases caused by fatness and all the other problems that come with that, you might think that's a more moral lie. Decide that for yourself.”

72. Why did Loftus ask the volunteers to answer some questions?

    A. To improve her computer program.           B. To find out their attitudes towards food.

    C. To find out details she can make use of             D. To predict what food they'll like in the future.

73. What did Loftus find out from her research?

    A. People believe what the computer tells them.

    B. People can be led to believe in something false.

    C. People tend to forget their childhood experiences.

    D. People are not always aware of their personalities.

74. According to the study, people may stop having a certain food if they ________.

A. learn it is harmful for health                        

B. lie to themselves that they don't want it

    C. are willing to let doctors control their minds

    D. think they once had a bad experience of eating it

75. What is the biggest concern with the method?

    A. Whether it is moral.                                B. Who it is best for.

    C. When it is effective.                                D. How it should be used.

D

Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind. How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing.

By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic (逻辑) behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand. Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding. In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”

Try this experiment. Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea how right now. Just start with anything, and create an explanation. For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help. You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain twenty minutes from now.

Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember. Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes. You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success.

Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it. That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better. Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there.

Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand. Often, they write about something because they want to understand it. You can do the same. Writing will help bring you to an understanding. Give it a try.

71. What would be the best title for the text?

   A. A Way on How to Write

   B. Increase Your Brain Power through Writing

   C. Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing

   D. How to Start Your Writing

72. According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT ______.

   A. the increase of your brain power

   B. the ability to remember

   C. the development of your interest in study

   D. the better understanding of a topic

73. If a writer writes something, it means that he or she _______.

   A. has understood it very well

   B. needs to understand it better

   C. wants to remember it in his or her mind

   D. is exercising his or her “explain power”

74. The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.

   A. you are already successful

   B. you still need to work hard

   C. writing can help you walk half way

   D. writing is important to solve problems

75. What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?

   A. To advise readers to start their writing.

   B. To explain the importance of writing.

   C. To persuade readers to become writers.

   D. To increase readers’ brain power.

A study published in September suggests there is a surprising way to get people to avoid unhealthy foods; change their memories. Scientist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California at I rvine asked volunteers to answer some questions on their personalities（个性）and food experiences. “One week later,” Loftus says,” we told those people we’d fed their answers into our smart computer and it came up with an account of their early childhood experiences.” Some accounts included one key additional detail （细节）: “You got sick after eating strawberry ice-cream.” The researchers then changed this detail into a manufactured（人为促生的）memory through leading questions－Who were you with? How did you feel? By the end of the study up to 41% of those given a false memory believed strawberry ice-cream once made them sick, and many said they’d avoid eating it.

When Loftus published her findings, she started getting calls from people begging her to make them remember hating chocolate or French fries. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. False memories appear to work only for foods you don’t eat on a regular basis. But most important, it is likely that false memories can be implanted（灌输）only in people who are unaware of the mental control. And lying to a patient is immoral, even if a doctor believes it’s for the patient’s benefit.

    Loftus says there’s nothing to stop parents from trying it with their overweight children. “I say, wake up－parents have been lying about Father Christmas for years, and nobody seems to mind. If they can prevent diseases caused by fatness and all the other problems that come with that, you might think that’s a more moral lie. Decide that for yourself.”

72．Why did Loftus ask the volunteers to answer some questions?

A．To improve her computer program.

B．To find out their attitudes towards food.

C．To find out details she can make use of.

D．To predict what food they’ll like in the future.

73．What did Loftus find out from her research?

A．People believe what the computer tells them.

B．People can be led to believe in something false.

C．People tend to forget their childhood experiences.

D．People are not always aware of their personalities.

74．According to the study, people may stop having a certain food if they _____.

A．learn it is harmful for health

B．lie to themselves that they don’t want it

C．are willing to let doctors control their minds

D．think they once had a bad experience of eating it

75．What is the biggest concern with the method?

A．Whether it is moral.

B．Who it is best for.

C．When it is effective.

D．How it should be used.

D
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine.“Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,”William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word“habit”carries a negative meaning.
So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.
But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
“The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,”says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind.“But we are taught instead to‘decide’, just as our president calls himself‘the Decider’．”She adds, however, that“to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”
“All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,”she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought.“This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,”explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will…and Ms. Markova’s business partner.“That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”This is where developing new habits comes in.
67．Brain researchers have discovered that      .
A．the forming of new habits can be guided
B．the development of habits can be predicted
C．the regulation of old habits can be transformed
D．the track of new habits can be created unconsciously
68．The underlined word“ruts”in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to       .
A．zones                     B．connections             C．situations                D．tracks
69．Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?
A．Decision makes no sense in choices.
B．Curiosity makes creative minds active.
C．Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.
D．Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.
70．The purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us       .
A．to give up our traditional habits deliberately
B．to create and develop new habits consciously
C．to resist the application of standardized testing
D．to believe that old habits conflict with new habits