Once a traveller came into a village which was suffering from hunger. The villagers asked him to leave, for they feared he wanted them to give him food. They told him that there was no food. The traveller explained that he didn’t need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with them instead. The villagers watched suspiciously as he built a fire and filled a pot with water With great ceremony(仪式), he pulled a stone from a bag, and dropped the stone into the pot of water. After a moment, he smelt the soup and shouted with excitement, “How delicious the soup is!” As the villagers began to show interest, he mentioned how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brought out a cabbage to share. This episode(情节) repeated itself until the soup had cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets—indeed, a full pot of soup that could feed everyone in the village was ready. This story describes when there are not enough resources(资源), humans will store things. We do not want to share. The story of stone soup helps us realize that, in doing so, we often prevent ourselves and everyone else from having a feast(盛宴).The meaning of this story goes far beyond food. We keep to ourselves ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer, but in fact we make the world, and ourselves, poorer. The traveller was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the ability to inspire(激发) them to give. In this way, they created a large meal that none of them could have created alone. Are you like one of the villagers? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a feast that can feed many.

1. What does the underlined word “suspiciously” most probably mean?

A. doubtfully B. excitedly

C. curiously D. fearfully

2. The traveller put a stone into the pot in order to .

A. teach the villagers to cook a soup with stone

B. inspire the villagers to bring out their own food

C. prove to the villagers that he didn’t want their food

D. help villagers to survive by giving them some food

3.The writer mainly wants to tell us that .

A. storing things in hard times is human nature

B. a good leader is very necessary in hard times

C. skills are needed to inspire people to share with others

D. sharing is more important than keeping things to oneself

Yueyang was awarded the National Civilized City (全国文明城市) in 2015. We are proud of our hometown . It has changed a lot in the last few years.

Yueyang is a cultural city with a long history near Dongting Lake. But the local people didn’t use to be satisfied with the environment .You could find rubbish on the streets. The rivers were polluted because factories put waste water into them. What’s more, the air was polluted by the smoke from the factories. People no longer saw green land because they cut down plenty of trees.

Today, the environment in Yueyang is becoming better and better. People are more polite now. They put waste paper and plastic bottles in the recycling bins(箱子).They keep voices down while talking in public. They offer seats to the old, the disabled and the women with babies on the buses. Some factories have been closed by the government. Waste water is cleaned before putting into the rivers. Many trees and flowers are planted on the mountains.

In summer, many people take walks along Bianhe Street after dinner. It’s interesting to see many boats going up and down in Dongting Lake. And we can watch some women doing square dancing (广场舞) in front of Yueyang Tower.

We need to take care of our environment and fight against pollution. We hope our hometown will be more lively and fantastic.

1.Yueyang has changed a lot in the last few years.

2.The environment in Yueyang is getting worse and worse now.

3.The old give their seats to the young when they are on the buses.

4.All of the factories in Yueyang have been closed by the government.

5.Keeping voices down while talking in public is good behavior.

Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

Parapsychologists (灵学家) say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To research whether such a “sixth sense” really exists(存在), Robert Baker, a psychologist (心理学家) at the University of Kentucky, did two experiments.

In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. The subjects(受试者)were eating, drinking, reading, studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them.

For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind in a laboratory setting. The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren’t.

Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If people doubt the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker, “I suggest they repeat the experiments and see for themselves.”

1.The aim of the two experiments is to________.

A. explain when people can have a sixth sense

B. show how people act while being watched in the lab

C. study whether humans can sense when they are stared at

D. prove why humans have a sixth sense

2.In the first experiment, the subjects_________________.

A. were told that they were stared at B. did nothing but sit silently

C. were stared at for 5 to 15 hours D. didn’t know that someone was staring at them

3.The underlined word “outcome” in the last paragraph most probably means_______.

A. value B. result C. effort D. reason

4.In the second experiment, the subjects _________.

A. could tell when they were stared at and when they weren’t.

B. could tell when they were stared at but couldn’t tell when they weren’t.

C. couldn’t tell when they were stared at but could tell when they weren’t.

D. couldn’t tell when they were stared at or when they weren’t.

5.What can be learned from the passage?

A. People are born with a sixth sense.

B. The experiments support parapsychologists’ idea.

C. The subjects do not have a sixth sense in the experiments.

D. People have a sixth sense in all places.

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