You must have seen ads on TV about hair care products （护发用品）. The models have shining hair like jewels （珠宝）. But now to make hair shine is no longer the task of hair care products, because hair can be made into real jewels. Believe it or not, a company called LifeGem in the US turns hair into jewels.
The company is in the business of taking hair from dead people and making it into diamonds （钻石）. The diamonds are for the families to remember the dead people.
Now the company plans to make three diamonds using Beethoven's hair to show their latest technology （技术）. The work will take about 7 months and in the end, Beethoven's long hair will become 3 shining diamonds between 0.5 to 1 carat （克拉）in size.
Since the great musician died in 1827, you may wonder how they got Beethoven's hair. Actually, the hair was given by John Rezniloff, who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest and most valuable collection of celebrities' （名人） hair. His collection also includes hair of Napoleon, Albert Einstein,  Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. In total,  the collection is worth over 5 million dollars.
Though it sounds unbelievable （难以置信）, to have such diamonds made with hair may be a good way to show respect （尊敬） and love to those who died.
【小题1】What does the company of LifeGem do?

Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical(批判性的) thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes（过程）. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.

    The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen--beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning.

    Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are interested in life and want to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.

    Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning（推理）are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure（尺度）of intelligence（智慧）, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein. Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately made Hoffman feel comfortable by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.” 

1.Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, _______.

    A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

    B．we might be controlled by other people’s ideas

    C．we will follow the ideas of others naturally

    D．we might be fooled by other people’s ideas

2.If you are a critical thinker, you will ________.

     A．take one view against another view           

B．trust the reports in the newspapers

     C．think deeply about different ideas           

D．criticize other people for their mistakes

3. In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that ________.

A．speed can improve intelligence

B．intelligence is not decided by speed

C．the smarter you are, the faster you do things

D．the faster you do things, the smarter you become

阅读下列短文,从所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

         A young man once asked Albert Einstein, the great scientist,  66  the secret of success（成功） is. The scientist told him that the secret of success is  67  work. A few days later the young man asked him the same question again. Einstein was very  68 . He did not say  69 , but wrote  70  words on a piece of paper and handed it  71  the young man. The young man looked at the piece of paper.  72  it was written: A=X+Y+Z.

         “What does this mean?” asked the young man.

         “A means success,” explained the old scientist. “X stands for（代表） hard work, Y stands for good methods（方法）, and Z…, Z means stopping  73  and getting down to work.”

1.A. how                     B. what                       C. which                     D. why

2.A. hard                    B. easy                        C. good                       D. bad

3.A. pleased              B. happy                     C. angry                      D. sorry

4. A. anything           B. nothing                  C. something            D. everything

5. A. a little                B. little                 C. a few                        D. few

6.A. for                       B. to                               C. of                         D. with

7. A. Over                   B. On                           C. In                   D. At

8.A. talk                      B. to talk               C. talked               D. talking