Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid. T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion (视觉影像) of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16 to 24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land (想像中的地方)?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to re-appear. If the experiment took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted (替换) a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week-old babies did not seem to notice the switch (更换). Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about ______.

A.babies’ sense of sight
B.effects of experiments on babies
C.babies’ understanding of objects
D.different tests on babies’ feelings
【小题2】. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, “object ______”.
A.still existsB.keeps its shape C.still stays solidD.is beyond reach
【小题3】. What did Bower use in his experiments?
A.A chair & a screenB.A screen & a trainC.A film & a train D.A box & a chair
【小题4】 Which of the following statements is true?
A.The babies didn’t have a sense of direction.
B.The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.
C.The younger babies liked looking for missing objects
D.The babies couldn’t tell a ball from its optical illusion.

Some of the best-known names in the entertainment industry have taken part in an unprecedented telethon to help victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States.
The benefit(义演), called “America: a Tribute to Heroes,” was sponsored by all four major U.S television networks, ABC, CBS, FOIX and NBC. It was broadcast by three-dozen television, cable and radio networks across the country and aired live to more than a hundred countries around the world.
Hollywood stars joined music entertainers in asking listeners and viewers to pledge cash donations to charities helping the victims of the September 11th attacks.
Actors, including Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Clint Eastwood, told stories of heroic acts by people who tried to save others from the burning World trade Center and the Pentagon. Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali made a rare public appearance in show of support.
The appeals alternated with performances by such popular entertainers as Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Steve Wonder, Paul Simon and the rock band U—2.
They appeared on stages in New York, Los Angeles and London, decorated with hundreds of burning candles.
Singer Billy Joel sang “ New York State of Mind” with a New York City firefighter’s hat on his piano. Sting dedicated his song “ Gragile” to a friend who died in the World Trade Center. Stevie Wonder condemned(指责) hatred in the name of religion before singing his song “ Love’s in Need of Love today”. Pledge phones were manned by dozens of other celebrities, including Jack Nicholson, Meg Ryan, Whoopic Goldberg, Cindy Crawford, Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone.
Organizers say the two-hour telethon raised millions of dollars. All participants, from stars to stagehands, worked without pay.
【小题1】 Those who appeared on stages were ______.
      

A.some best-known names in the USA
 
B.some famous singer, film stars and other music entertainers
 
C.People who tried to save others from the burning World trade Center and the Pentagon.
 
D.Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and Hollywood stars
【小题2】The underlined word “ telethon” most probably means ______.
      
A.a performance to raise money
 
B.a concert held by some television networks
 
C.a television program which lasts a long time
 
D.a television program for entertainment
【小题3】Which of the following statements is True?
A.Four major U.S. television networks broadcast the benefit
B.The former heavy weight champion Muhammad Ali sang a song to show his support
C.Billy Joel, wearing a firefighter’s hat, played the piano for the listeners and viewers
D.The organizers, stars and people who worked for the benefit didn’t get any money for themselves.
【小题4】 The best title for the news report is ______.
A.U.S Telethon Raises Money for Attack Victims
B.Best-known names Pledge Donations
C.Seeking More Support
D.A Tribute to Heroes

Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid. T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion(视觉影像)of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could be expected to show surprised in their faces and movements, All the 16 to 24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to re-appear. If the experiment took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The re-searcher substituted(替换) a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week-old babies did not seem to notice the switch(更换).Thus,the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about        .

A.babies’sense of sightB.effects of experiments on babies
C.babies’understanding of objectsD.different tests on babies’feelings
【小题2】.In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, and object           .
A.still existsB.keeps its shapeC.still stays solid D.is beyond reach
【小题3】.What did Bower use in his experiments?
A.A chairB.A screenC.A filmD.A box
【小题4】. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.The babies didn’t have a sense of direction.
B.The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.
C.The younger babies liked looking for missing objects
D.The babies couldn’t tell a ball from its optical illusion.

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
  【小题1】   But science may have just proved them right – because beautiful women are more likely to have daughters than their plainer counterparts, according to a study.
As parents tend to pass on genes that determine looks, this could result in handsome men becoming rather thin on the ground.    【小题2】  For example, Yasmin Le Bon is signed to the same modelling agency as daughter Amber, and Jerry Hall’s daughters Elizabeth and Georgia Jagger have both taken to the catwalk.  
Dr Satoshi Kanazawa, of the London School of Economics, analysed data from a survey of 17,000 babies born in Britain in March 1958 and tracked them throughout their lives.    【小题3】    When they reached 45, they were asked about the gender of any children they had.
Those rated as attractive were equally likely to have a son or daughter as their first child – but the unattractive sorts were more likely to have a son.    【小题4】  
Dr Kanazawa believes that parents tend to produce children who benefit from their own features.  【小题5】  So it pays for attractive women to have daughters. But couples blessed with strength and aggression rather than looks are better off having boys, as these characteristics are of more use to males.

A.Women are becoming more beautiful over the generations because attractive women have
more children than plain ones.
B.Single girls have always complained that good-looking men are difficult to find.
C.Beauty is of more benefit to a woman than a man.
D.At the age of seven, their attractiveness was rated by their teachers.
E. Put another way, the beautiful women were more likely to have daughters.
F. And it may also explain why many models have daughters who follow in their fascinating footsteps.
G. Famously good-looking parents like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are more likely to have girls than uglier couples.

.
Our brains work in complex and strange ways. There are some people who can calculate the day of the week for any given date in 40,000 years, but who cannot add two plus two. Others can perform complex classical piano pieces after hearing them once, but they cannot read or write.
Dr.J.Langdon Down first described this condition in 1887.He called these people idiot savants. An idiot savant is a person who has significant mental impairment (损伤) , such as in autism or retardation.  At the same time, the person also exhibits some extraordinary skills, which are unusual for most people.The skills of the savant may vary from being exceptionally gifted in music or in mathematics, or having a photographic memory.
One of the first descriptions of a human who could calculate quickly was written in 1789 by Dr.Benjamin Rush, an American doctor.His patient, Thomas Fuller, was brought to Virginia as a slave in 1724. It took Thomas only 90 seconds to work out that a man who has lived 70 years, 17 days, and 12 hours has lived 2,210,500,800 seconds.Despite this ability, he died in 1790 without ever learning to read or write.
Another idiot savant slave became famous as a pianist in the 1860s. Blind Tom had a vocabulary of only 100 words, but he played 5 ,000 musical pieces beautifully.
In the excellent movie Rain Man, made in 1988 and available on video cassette, Dustin Hoffman plays an idiot savant who amazes his brother played by Tom Cruise, with his ability to perform complex calculations very rapidly.
Today we more clearly recognize that the idiot savant is special because of brain impairment.Yet not all brain impairment leads to savant skills.Some studies have shown that people who have purposeful interruption of the left side of the brain can develop idiot savant skills. However,few people wish to participate in such experiments. There are many excellent reasons for not undergoing unnecessary experimentation on one's brain. The term idiot savant is outdated and inappropriate. Virtually all savants have a high degree of intelligence and are thus not idiots.
48.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Idiot savants have areas of outstanding abilities.
B.Human Beings have complicated thinking process.
C.The brains of the idiot savants are partly impaired.
D.The reasons why people have wonderful skills vary.
49.Which of the following can be done by Rain Man?
A.He can play wonderful pieces of classical music.
B.He can guess out exactly the length of a man's life.
C.He can memorize the contents of the pictures fast.
D.He can count matches dropped on the floor quickly.
50.What can you infer from the passage?
A.Idiot savants have real talents for art and math.
B.Dr.Down is the first person who found idiot savants.
C.Few people wish to risk becoming savants by brain operations.
D.Intentional left brain impairments will surely lead to idiot savants.

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