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 (視覺影像) of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out
and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for
the illusion and found empty air, 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?
     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 reappear. If the experimenter 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 (替換) 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 (更換). 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.

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

2. In Paragraph 3," object permanence" means that when out of sight, an object ______.

A. still exists
B. keeps its shape
C. still stays solid
D. is beyond reach

3. What did Bower use in his experiments?

A. A chair.
B. A screen.
C. A film.
D. A box.

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.

     [l]The harmful effects on children were summed up last year in a report by the National Research Council
and Institute of Medicine. Problems begin early, as the infants of depressed mothers cry more than other babies.
They have greater fear of strangers and less tolerance for frustration. Starting in preschool and across all stages
of childhood, they have more behavior problems at school and higher rates of depression and anxiety disorders. 
     [2]By adolescence, children with depressed parents have poorer social relations than the teens of parents
____, and they're more likely to be dependent on alcohol and drugs. Depression in parents also is linked to more
behavior problems at school and higher rates of depression and anxiety disorders, according to studies in the
report.
     [3]And some harmful effects of growing up with a depressed parent appear to remain into adulthood. A
20-year study on kids of depressed parents found that those with depressed parents suffered about three times
the rate of anxiety disorders and depression by their 30s, and they were in poorer health than peers and much
more likely to be dependent on drugs and alcohol. The study, believed to be the longest ever done, was
published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2006. These effects may not only be long-lasting but also
far-reaching. Serious depression affects about one in five American parents, and 15.6 million children live with
an adult who has had major depression in the last year.
     [4]As knowledge about the effects of parental depression has grown, so too has research into how to fight
those effects. Studies suggest, for example, that changing destructive parenting practices and teaching children
good coping strategies can make a big, positive difference in kids.

1. What is mainly talked about in the text? (no more than lo words) 
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which sentence in the text is closest in meaning to the following one? With a better understanding of the 
    effects of depressed parents, research is also being conducted on how to prevent those effects.
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. (no more than 5 words)
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
4. List three negative effects of parental depression on children. (no more than 20 words)
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese.
    _____________________________________________________________________________________

     Close your eyes and imagine you are living in the next two centuries or more. You'll be living in
a world filled with smart robots, which will be helping you to take care of your children, or your elderly
parents in your home. You'll live much longer thanks to the medicine made by genetic (基因的) science.
And mankind may be going farther in space than ever before-you will be living on the moon or Mars.
How should we view the changes that wait for us in the future? Should we be optimistic about the years
ahead, or worried about what the future holds? Some scientists and experts are having a discussion about how technology, science and society will develop in the future.
    "I'm looking forward to the day when more technology will come to my life," says John Searle, a
professor at the University of California Berkeley Philosophy, "because I think further research in such
areas as genetics, physics, chemistry and medicine will help us to overcome poverty, improve health,
and make life longer."
     Hugh Herr, at MIT's Biomechatronics Group, considers very powerful weapons as concern over
the future. Another is the growing role of technology in our lives."Machines taking over what humans
do is not a good thing," Herr says.
    That is a similar concern shared by Daniela Cerqui, a social and cultural scientist. "I am afraid
that the long-term future we are building will have no space left for human beings," says Cerqui. "The
main values of our society are related to information that must progress as quickly as possible, and
computers are much better than humans in these tasks ."

1. The first paragraph mainly tells us ________.

A. how science will develop in the next two centuries  
B. how people will live in a modern society  
C. what life would be like in the future  
D. what computers will bring to our society

2. What is John Searle's attitude towards the future of technology?

A. Worried.    
B. Optimistic.  
C. Uncertain.  
D. Disappointed.

3. The underlined word "That" in the last paragraph refers to______.

A. the poverty problem in the future            
B. machines taking over what humans do
C. the technology of weapons
D. the health problem of humans

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. The future--full of hope or concern?
B. Great changes will take place in the future
C. The relationship between technology and humans            
D. The role of robots and computers in the future

       Not long ago,people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months
old.Yet doctors in  the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.
       Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment.They say a baby will smile if
her mother does something the baby likes.A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please
her mother or other caregivers.This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human
beings.
     One study shows that babies can learn before they are born.The researchers placed a tape recorder
on the stomach of a pregnant woman.Then,they played a recording of a short story.On the day the baby
wasborn,the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother.They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.
      The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way.If the baby moved his mouth the other way,he would hear a different story.The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born.They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.
      Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in
their children.
      Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years.The researchers attempted
to measure the sensitivity of the mothers.The women were considered sensitive if they supported their
children's activites and did not interfere unnecessarily.They tested the children for thinking and language
development when they were three years old.Also,the researchers observed the women for signs of
depression.
      The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not
suffer from depression.The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and
understanding what they hear.
       These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people.The
researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their
children.Children did better when their mothers were caring,even when they suffered from depression.

1．According to the passage,which of the following is NOT the factor that influences the intelligence
     development in babies?
A．The environment. 
B．Mother's sensitivity
C．Their peers (同齡人). 
D．Education before birth.

2．What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

A．To prove that babies can learn before they are born.
B．To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.
C．To show mothers can strongly influence the intelligence developent in their babies.
D．To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies' language skills.

3．Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

A．The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.
B．The children of women who did not suffer from depression.
C．The children of depressed but caring mothers.
D．Children with high communication abilities.

4．What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.
B．Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies'intelligence.
C．A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are born or six months old.
D．Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

     Children always appreciate small gifts of money. Father, of course, provide a regular supply of
pocket-money, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra income. With some children, small
sums _go a long way. If sixpences are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside the money-
box. Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money-box. For most of them, sixpence is a small price
to pay for a satisfying bar of chocolate.
      My nephew, George, has a money-box but it is always empty. Very few of the sixpences I have given to him found their way there. I gave him sixpence yesterday and advised him to save it. Instead, he bought himself sixpence worth of trouble. On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his sixpence and it rolled
along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain. George took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves
and pushed his right arm through the drain cover. However, he couldn't find his sixpence anywhere, and
what's more, he couldn't get his arm out. A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck. The fire-brigade was called and two firemen freed
George using a special of greese . George was not too upset by his sixpence because the lady who owns
the sweet shop heard about his trouble and rewarded him with a large box of chocolate.

1. According to the passage, children often get pocket-money from their_______.

A.  fathers    
B.  mothers      
C.  uncles    
D.  aunts

2. The underlined word "go" in the first paragraph probably means_________.

A.  move      
B.  last          
C.  be placed  
D.  work

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Fathers seldom give pocket-money to their children.
B. Most children can fill up their money-boxes.
C. George bought a large box of chocolate using the money given by the author.
D. George didn't feel sorry for his bad experience.

4. The best title of the passage should be ______.

A.  Save your money    
B.  George's bad experience
C.  Sixpence worth of trouble      
D.  Pocket-money

                                 Students and Technology in the Classroom
     I love my Blackberry-it's my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also
love my laptop computer, as it holds all of my writing and thought. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices(設(shè)備)and truly communicate with
others.
     On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My
goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to
thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom. I have a rule -no
laptops, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were
not happy.
     Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with
students misusing technology. There's a bit of truth to that. Some students assume that I am anti-technology. There's no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students
to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently
and to make connections between the course the material and the class discussion.
     I've been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the educations reflect student
satisfaction with the environment that I create .Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge,
they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
     I'm not saying that I won't ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I
hear a really good reason for the change. I'm sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue
is just too sweet to give up.

1. Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____.

A. the course material
B. others' misuse of technology
C. discussion topics  
D. the author's class regulations

2. The underlined word "engage "in Para.4 probably means ____.

A. explore
B. accept  
C. change
D. reject

3. According to the author ,the use of technology in the classroom may ____.

A. keep students from doing independent thinking  
B. encourage students to have in-depth conversations
C. help students to better understand complex themes    
D. affect students' concentration on course evaluation

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____

A. is quite stubborn
B. will give up teaching history
C. will change his teaching plan soon
D. values technology-free dialogues in his class

     The zebra belongs to the horse family. One of nature's great mysteries is why the zebra has stripes.
One theory is that the stripes help the zebra cool down. On hot days the black stripes get a lot hotter than
the white area of the zebra and under the black stripes there are special layers of fat for protection. Hot
air then rises off the black stripes, forcing colder air down around the white areas, cooling the zebra
down. This, however, is just a theory. The stripes can also confuse predators (食肉動物) when zebras
stay with other animals in great numbers.
     Zebras have excellent hearing and eyesight and can run at a speed of up to 35 miles per hour
(56 kilometers per hour). They also have a powerful kick that can cause serious injury to a predator, like
a lion, or an African wild dog. Usually the lead male of the herd stays at the back of the group to defend
against predators if necessary, while the females and youngsters run from danger.
     Zebras are herbivores and feed mostly on grasses, although they also might eat the leaves and stems (莖) of bushes a bit. They eat grasses for many hours each day, using their strong teeth. Spending so
much time chewing wears the zebra's teeth down, so their teeth keep growing all their lives. As the dry
season arrives and the grasses die back, zebra herds travel to find more food and water holes for drinking. Most zebras have no specific territories. They travel from place to place, never staying in one area very
long.

1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A. There are different opinions about why the zebra has stripes.
B. The black stripes help the zebra live through cold days.
C. The zebra can easily be attacked by predators.
D. The zebra always travels with other animals.

2. According to the passage, herbivores are________.

A. animals that have specific territories
B. animals that only eat plants
C. animals that kill and eat other animals
D. animals that live in groups

3. The zebra has strong teeth all their lives because their teeth________.

A. only chew soft grasses
B. are used all day
C. are always growing
D. are kept clean

4. Which of the following statements about zebras is TRUE?

A. They have poor eyesight and hearing.
B. Their stripes can confuse predators.
C. They can run 56 miles per hour.
D. They usually stay in one area all their lives.

5. Which of the following TV programs might the passage be adapted for?

A. Hobbies & Leisure    
B. Everyday Tips
C. Digital Stadium      
D. Discoveries