He could have been president of Israel or played violin at Carnegie Hall, but he was too busy thinking. His thinking on God, love and the meaning of life graces our greeting cards and day-timers.

Fifty years after his death, his shock(乱蓬蓬的一堆)of white hair and hanging moustache still symbolize genius. Einstein remains the foremost scientist of the modern time. Looking back 2,400 years, only Newton ,Galileo and Aristotle were his equals.

Around the world , universities and academies(研究院)are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s “miracle year” when he published five scientific papers in 1905 that basically changed our grasp of space, time ,light and matter. Only he could top himself about a decade later with his theory of relativity.

Born in the age of horse-drawn carriages, his ideas launched a technological revolution that has made more changes in a century than in the previous two thousand years. Computers, satellites, telecommunications, lasers, televisions and nuclear power all owe their invention to ways in which Einstein exposed a stranger and more complicated reality underneath the world.

He escaped Hitler’s Germany and devoted the rest of his life to human rights and peace with an authority unmatched by any scientist today, or even most politicians and religious leaders. He spoke out against fascism(法西斯主义)and racial prejudice. His FBI (美国联邦调查局)file ran 1,400 pages.

His letters expose a disorderly personal life ─ married twice and indifferent toward his children while absorbed in physics. Yet he charmed lovers and admirers with poetry and sailboat outings. Friends and neighbors fiercely protected his privacy.

The first paragraph implies that Einstein __________.

A. had the gift for politics and music

B. had run for president before he worked at his research

C. was an excellent violinist

D. was more a political leader of a musician than a thinker

When you think of Einstein, what typical appearance was formed in your mind?

A. Funny and humorous, with an air of a musician.

B. Wearing very wide trousers and a moustache, with an image of an actor.

C. Rough untidy mass of white hair and hanging moustache, with an image of thinking .

D. Black long hair and moustache, with his eyes deep set.

Why was 1905 called Einstein’s “miracle year”?

A. Because he topped himself with the theory of relativity.

B. Because he made important discoveries of space, time, light and matter.

C. Because he published five papers on his theory of relativity.

D. Because he wrote five important articles to help people understand space, time , light and matter better.

Which of the following is not true about Einstein according to the passage?

A. When he was absorbed in his research ,he didn’t care for his family.

B. He tried to amuse his family and friends in his spare time.

C. He was so busy with the physical research that he showed no interest in politics.

D. His theory led to much improvement in many technological fields.

About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: “So, how have you been?” And the boy, who could not have been more than seven or eight years old, replied, “Frankly, I’ve been a little depressed lately.”

This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school.

The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.

Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists, why?

Human development is based not only on innate(天生) biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social rote(生搬硬套) to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.

In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(揭示) machine has been brought in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, indiscriminately (不加区分地). Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.

Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbol that must be memorized and practices. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.

Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world______________.

A.through contact with society

B.naturally and by biological instinct (本能)

C.gradually and under guidance

D.through exposure to social information

The phenomenon that today’s children seem adult like is due to ____________.

A.the widespread influence of television

B.the poor arrangement of teaching content

C.the fast pace of human intellectual development

D.the constantly rising standard of living

Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?

A.It enables children to gain more social information.

B.It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.

C.It helps children to memorize and practice more.

D.It can control what children are to learn.

What does the author think of the change in today’s children?

 A.He feels amused by their premature (早熟) behavior.

 B.He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.

 C.He considers it a positive development.

 D.He seems to be upset about it.

I start to wonder what else had changed since I’d been gone. My parents are in an awkward puzzle, wondering how to treat me now----whether to treat me—still their daughter—as one of them, an adult, or as the child they feel they sent away months earlier.

I run into two of my best friends from high school; we stare at each other, expressionless. We ask the simple questions and give simple answers. It’s as if we have nothing to say to each other. I wonder how things have changed so much in such a small amount of time. We used to laugh and promise that no matter how far away we were, our love for each other would never change. Their interests don’t interest me anymore, and I find myself unable to relate my life to theirs.

I had been so excited to come home, but now I just look at it all and wonder: Is it me? Why hadn’t the world stood still here while I was gone?  My room isn’t the same, my friends and I don’t share the same promise, and my parents don’t know how to treat me—or who I am, for that matter.

I get back to school feeling half-satisfied, but not disappointed. I sit up in my bed in my dorm room, surrounded by my pictures, dolls. As I wonder what has happened, I realize that I can’t expect the world to stand still and move forward at the same time.  I can change and expect that things at home will stay the same. I have to find comfort in what has changed and what is new; keep the memories, but live in the present.

A few weeks later, I’m packing again, this time for winter break. My mom meets me at the door. I have come home accepting the changes, not only in my surroundings, but most of all in me.

What can we infer about the writer?

       A. She is a high school student.    B. She is a college student.

       C. She is a clerk in a school.       D. She is a traveler.

What surprises the writer most?

       A. The living conditions of her parents.       B. The decorations in her room.

       C. The meeting with her best friends.   D. The things still staying the same.

What is this passage mainly about?

       A. The writer’s curiosity about the changes.

       B. The changes in the writer’s surroundings and in herself.

       C. The writer’s disappointment about the changes.

       D. The writer’s refusal to accept the changes.

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