People with bigger brains ftend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence， according to new study findings.

However， the study author Dr Michael A.McDaniel of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond emphasized that these findings represent a general trend， and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance， Albert Einstein’s brain was “not particularly large”， McDaniel noted. “There’s some relationship between brain size and intelligence on the average， but there’s plenty of room for exceptions，” he said.

Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the1830s，  when German anatomist(解剖学家) Frederich Tiedmann wrote that he believed there was “an unquestionable connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man”. Since that statement， scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tiedmann’s  assertion was， in fact， correct. Most studies have looked into the link between head size and intelligence. More recently， however， researchers have published additional studies on brain size and intelligence， measured using MRI scan(核磁共振成像扫描).

For his study， McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that looked into the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on the average， people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship between brain volume and intelligence was stronger in women than men， and in adults than in children. McDaniel notes in the journal Intelligence.

McDaniel is not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. “Other research has shown that women， on the average， tend to have smaller brains than men， but score just as well—if not higher—in tests of intelligence，” he said.

McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a “perfect” one. “One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-sized people who are highly intelligent，” he said， “But， on the average， the relationship holds.”

1.. What does the text mainly talk about？

A.MRI scans are applied to intelligence.

B. On the average， a bigger brain means higher IQ.

C. Dr McDaniel did well in his intelligence study.

D. Scientists are interested in Tiedmann’s idea.

2. By mentioning Albert Einstein， the writer wants to show　　　　.

A. Albert Einstein was intelligent

B. the result of intelligence test was false

C. being hard working is more important than intelligence

D. brain size doesn’t necessarily decide the level of intelligence

3. The underlined word “assertion” in Para. 3 probably means “　　　　”.

A. experiment   B. statement   C proof       D. demand

4. After Frederich Tiedmann wrote his article， 　　　　.

A. many scientists agreed with him

B. numerous studies have failed to prove his idea

C.MRI scan became popularly used

D. lots of researchers were interested in the connections between head size and intelligence

5. According to the text， Dr McDaniel’s study　　　　.

A. proves Tiedmann’s idea was completely true

B. shows women are smarter than men

C. involves many studies and a lot of people

D. explains why people with smaller brains are clever

There’s some doubt __________he’ll keep his promise.

A．whether          B．when             C．that              D．which

If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it’s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my  16 ways to do this is by developing my own 17 actions. These little acts of kindness are  18  to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be  19  and helpful.
We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty and 20  .One of the exceptions to the beauty is the  21 that some people throw out of their windows as they are  22 on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacks to  23  the mountainous area is that public services, such as litter collection, are less  24  than those are closer to the city.
　  A helping action that I practice  25  with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We' ve become so  26  to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in exciting  27 , "There' s some litter, Daddy, stop the  28  !" And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem  29  , but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically  30 . Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to  31  we live. He smiled at me and said, "I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good       32 ."
Picking up litter is only one of an  33  supply of possible helping actions. You might like holding a door open for people,  34  lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or removing snow off someone else' s driveway. Perhaps you might  35  something that seems effortless yet helpful. It' s fun, personally rewarding, and setting a good example. Everyone wins.

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they’re bad. Yet the agreement among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants’ impact on the economy and the reality?

There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the stress that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities. There’s some truth to all these explanations, but they aren’t quite sufficient.

To get a better understanding of what’s going on, consider the way immigration’s impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants’ low-cost labor are businesses and employers —meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, these producers’ savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration has reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9%. 

Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other words, was the financial burden of immigration. That conclusion was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to soften when that financial burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants’ access to certain benefits.

The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected — say, low-skilled workers, or California residents — the impact isn’t all that dramatic. “The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate our perceptions,” says Daniel Tichenor, a professor at the University of Oregon. “But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive, but a small one.” Too bad most people don’t realize it. 

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Whether immigrants are good or bad for the economy has been puzzling economists.

B．The American economy used to thrive on immigration but now it’s a different story.

C．The agreement among economists is that immigration should not be encouraged.

D．The general public thinks differently from most economists on the impact of immigration.

2.What is the chief concern of native high-skilled, better-educated employees about the inflow of immigrants?

A．It may change the existing social structure.

B．It may pose a threat to their economic status.

C．It may decrease .their financial burden.

D．It may place a great pressure on the state budget.

3.What is the irony about the debate over immigration?

A．Even economists can’t reach an agreement about its impact.

B．Those who are opposed to it turn out to benefit most from it.

C．People are making too big a fuss about something of small impact.

D．There is no essential difference between seemingly opposite opinions.

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．A debate about whether to immigrate.

B．A debate about the impact of illegal immigrants.

C．The great impact of immigrants on the economy.

D．Opposition to illegal immigration.

If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it’s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my  16 ways to do this is by developing my own 17 actions. These little acts of kindness are  18  to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be  19  and helpful.

We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty and 20  .One of the exceptions to the beauty is the  21 that some people throw out of their windows as they are  22 on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacks to  23  the mountainous area is that public services, such as litter collection, are less  24  than those are closer to the city.

　  A helping action that I practice  25  with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We' ve become so  26  to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in exciting  27 , "There' s some litter, Daddy, stop the  28  !" And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem  29  , but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically  30 . Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to  31  we live. He smiled at me and said, "I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good       32 ."

Picking up litter is only one of an  33  supply of possible helping actions. You might like holding a door open for people,  34  lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or removing snow off someone else' s driveway. Perhaps you might  35  something that seems effortless yet helpful. It' s fun, personally rewarding, and setting a good example. Everyone wins.

1.                A．favorite        B．familiar         C．difficult   D．different

2.                A．taking          B．placing         C．passing   D．helping

3.                A．customs        B．ceremonies      C．opportunities  D．occasions

4.                A．cruel          B．kind           C．proud    D．brave

5.                A．science         B．weather        C．universe  D．nature

6.                A．list            B．guidebook       C．litter D．check

7.                A．driving         B．directing        C．floating   D．flying

8.                A．search for       B．live in          C．look at   D．march into

9.                A．acceptable      B．available        C．horrible  D．honorable

10.               A．regularly       B．completely      C．calmly D．roughly

11.               A．opposed        B．reduced        C．devoted   D．accustomed

12.               A．lungs          B．voices          C．sounds    D．noises

13.               A．horse          B．carriage        C．bike  D．car

14.               A．strange         B．sensitive        C．imaginable D．necessary

15.               A．nowhere       B．anywhere       C．somewhere    D．everywhere

16.               A．why           B．when          C．which D．where

17.               A．idea           B．plan           C．excuse    D．feel

18.               A．empty         B．endless         C．immediate D．attractive

19.               A．describing      B．developing      C．visiting    D．valuing

20.               A．ask for         B．look into        C．carry out  D．think of