There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).

Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲线), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最适度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(劳累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.

The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.

Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.

When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.

1.According to the passage, _______.

2.Fatigue can result in ________.

3.The passage tells us that a person’s optimum number of working hours _______.

4.The only way the mind can relax is by ________.

5.After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.

 Three months after the government stopped issuing（发放）or renewing permits for Internet cafes because of security（安全）concerns, some cafe owners are having financial（经济的）concerns of their own.

 The permits were stopped suddenly three months ago by the government until new safeguards could be put in place to prevent misuse of the information superhighway, but for cafe owners it’s a business breakdown with no fix in sight.

 “I handed in a request to open up an Internet cafe and received the conditions,” said the businessman Obeidallah. “I rented a place in the Sharafiah district at SR45,000 and prepared the place with equipment that cost me more than SR100,000. When I went to the local government after finishing everything, I was surprised to find that they’d stopped issuing permits for Internet cafes.”

   Having an Internet cafe without Internet is much like having a coffee shop without coffee. “I’m avoiding closing the place, but it’s been more than three months with the situation ongoing as it is.” Obeidallah said. “Who will bear the losses caused by the permit issue?”

 The decision took many cafe owners by surprise. “I asked to open an Internet cafe, and I was handed a list of all the things that were needed to follow through, such as a sign for the place, filling out forms,” said Hassan Al-Harbi.

“I did all that was asked and rented a place. And after the Haj vacation I went to the local government and they surprised me, saying that there are new rules that forbid the issuing of any more Internet cafe permits and that one can’t even renew his permit. I’ve lost more than SR80,000,” Al-harbi added.

 As for the government, officials say a method to deal with it is on the way. But security concerns come before profit（盈利）.

The government stopped issuing or renewing permits for Internet cafes       .

  A．to prevent misuse of new safeguards in Internet cafes

  B．to make cafe owners earn less profit from their business

  C．to stop the use of the information superhighway on Internet

  D. to make sure of the proper use of the information superhighway

The government’s decision led to the fact that many cafe owners            .

  A．suffered heavy financial losses    

  B．asked to open up Internet cafes

  C．continued to operate Internet cafes   

  D．asked the government for payment

The underlined phrase in the last paragraph “on the way” means             .

  A.to be studied  

  B．to be put into practice

  C. to be changed    

  D．to be improved

The cafe owners found the government’s decision          .

  A．surprising and unacceptable   

  B．understandable and acceptable

  C. reasonable but surprising    

  D．surprising but acceptable

There are many different ways of seeing a town for the first time. One of them is to walk around it, guide-book  26  hand. Of course, we may  27  with our guide-books the history and  28  developments of a town and get to know them.
 29  then, if we take our time and  30  in a town for a while, we may get to know it better. When we  31  it as a whole, we begin to have some  32 , which even the best guide-books do not
answer. Why is the town just  33  this —— this shape, this plan, this size? Why do its streets  34  in this particular way, and not in any  35  way?
Here even the best guide-book  36  us. One can’t find the information in it about how a town has developed to the  37  appearance. It may not describe the original  38  of a town. However, one may get some idea of what it  39  look like by walking around the town. One can also imagine  40  the town was first planned and built. Then one can learn more about in what direction the town  41  to develop.
What is the  42  of studying towns in this way？For me, it is  43  a matter that one gets a greater depth of pleasure by visiting and seeing a town with one’s own eyes. A  44  visit to a town may help one better understand why it is attractive  45  just reading about it in a guide-book.

If you are ever planning to buy a telescope and want to get yourself involved in astronomy it is always a good idea to know a bit of the sky.Get acquainted with a few constellations(星座) so that it will be easier for you to spot the constellations when you are using your telescope.

It’s a good idea to buy a few magazines on astronomy to help you to get familiar with the constellations in the sky and also read a few reviews on the different types of telescopes in the market.This will help you gather all the information that is out there regarding telescopes and what people have to say about them.

It’s advisable to go in for a pair of binoculars(双筒望远镜) before you buy your first telescope so that you can get used to spotting constellations before your view of the sky is narrowed down.This will also help you know if you really want to get involved in astronomy.Many people buy a costly telescope and then discover that they’re not actually interested in astronomy.

Experience has no substitute，and there certainly is nothing better than using different telescopes before you buy one.This will help you to get the feel of all the types of telescopes and you will know which one is easier for you to use.A large aperture(光圈) refractor(折射) may give you an excellent image but you may not be able to keep a steady hand while using it resulting in a blurry image.

There are three types of telescopes that are available in the market.If you want a more elegant looking telescope you can always choose to buy a fine brass telescope.It’s good to become acquainted with each type before going for the plunge of a first telescope.The first type of telescope is the refractor telescope，which uses lenses to gather light to a focus at the eye piece.The use of lenses helps the telescope have a superior image.A refracting telescope is not as portable as the other two types of telescopes and so you will have to buy one with a small aperture.

The second type of telescope is the Reflector.Made by Sir Isaac Newton，this telescope functions by focusing the light back at the front of the tube，which is where the eyepiece sits，by using parabolic(抛物线的) mirrors and another smaller mirror to deflect the light.There is no added color in the image caused by refraction of light since this telescope does not use lenses.These are the cheapest of all telescopes and are more portable than refractors.

1.According to the text，a telescope is intended to be bought for ________.

A．getting experience

B．watching stars

C．studying the climate

D．learning about a bit of the sky

2.What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．One must know something about astronomy and telescopes.

B．One can’t buy a telescope without buying several astronomy magazines.

C．One should check the telescopes in the market and try to find a better one.

D．One must be familiar with new information of astronomy and space instruments.

3.Why does the author advise buying a pair of binoculars first?

A．The telescope is too expensive.

B．The binoculars are easier to use.

C．You may gain plenty of experience in astronomy.

D．Your view will be narrow by using a pair of binoculars.

4.What do we know about the refracting telescope?

A．It looks very elegant.

B．It refracts light by an eye piece.

C．It has clear images without any lenses.

D．It is not convenient to take along for its size.

B
It is the duty of every man to work. The life of a lazy man is of no use to himself and to others. The man who is too lazy to work is the man who is generally most ready to beg or to steal. Every boy, when he is young, should learn how to do some useful work.
But it is not enough that a boy should learn some kind of work. He should put his heart and soul completely into his work, and not waste his spare time. “Work while you work and play while you play” is as good a rule for young people as for the old!
There is no better help to diligence (勤奋) than the habit of early rising, and this, just like all other good habits, is most easily formed in youth. There is an English saying, “Lost time never returns”. This means that everybody must be diligent and make good use of his time. One must study hard when one is young so that one may make great progress, succeed in life and become useful to one’s country. Those who are diligent will never become beggars. Therefore, we can say that diligence is the mother of success.
【小题1】From the passage, we know that those who are too lazy to work will_________.