题型:任务型阅读 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
上海市金山区华师大三附中2018-2019学年高一上学期英语期中考试试卷
This Way to Dreamland
Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what's happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy. They annoy us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.
But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history. Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions?
So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or otherwise looking like a fool?
First, understand that some opportunities(机会) for daydreaming are better than others. Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams. And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you're daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.
It's also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concentrate. "Mindfulness", being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep..
Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away. Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.
A. Having interesting things to think about also helps.
B. They stare off into space and wander by themselves.
C. Without wandering minds, we wouldn't have relativity, Coke or Post-it notes.
D. At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses.
E. It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.
F. Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand.
It's said that people travel to see the world. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You walk down different streets, hear different accents, and see different views. All of this is a great way to absorb a new location and learn as much as you can.
But there's another reason why people travel to experience something new. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} So what kind of person are you? To tell the truth, you'll learn about yourself no matter where you go.
If you're a bookworm: Anyone studying English literature will love being on the soil of where such rich literary tradition was born. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Maybe you'll run into one of your favorite characters during the trip.
If you're a Disney princess fan: Head over to Prague and you'll find the setting of every fairy tale you've ever dreamed of. Prague's study abroad programs are in English and are flexible.
If you're a history lover: {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Sure, that's a lot of places. But you've never felt quite as absorbed in the ancient world as walking around Athens and Rome.
If you're an adventure seeker: Consider going to Australia.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}
If you're indecisive: Just choose them all and take a Semester at Sea. You'll have your classes on a ship as it sails around the world, making stops at 15 cities in 11 countries.
A. And we hope to learn about ourselves in this newness. B. Visiting a new place will change the way of living. C. There are countryside tours connected to novels. D. Just a day-long trip is an adventure in itself. E. Go somewhere where history comes alive. F. And you do see the world when traveling. G. History always makes men wise |
Decoding the young brain
There was a funny experiment to see how a young child would answer a specific question compared to an adult. After the adult had spent some time speaking with the child, he asked the child, “What do you think about me?” The child answered, “You talk too much.” When the adult performed the same experiment with another adult, the reply to the same question was, “I think you're a very interesting person.” Even if the adult felt the same way as the child, his brain allowed him to take a moment,consider the question, and come up with an answer. He could have been annoyed, but his answer didn't reflect it because he was being polite.
The secret lies in the science of the developing brain. The child's honest answer was reflected in the fact that his brain wasn't equipped to filter(过滤) information before answering the question. As a result, he was honest, but he said something that may have been hurtful. However, the child did not intentionally hurt the adult; it's just the way his brain works. As a child grows into adolescence and then into adulthood, that changes.
The human brain is made up of billions of neurons(神经元). In order for our body to execute a command, like getting up from a chair and walking to the other room, the neurons in the brain have to communicate with each other. They also help us employ our senses like taste and touch and help us remember things.
When the neurons send messages, perhaps one sensation(感觉) the person feels is excitement about eating a cookie because it is so delicious. Later, if that person smells a cookie or hears someone talking about a cookie, it can spark the electrical signals that call up the memory of eating the delicious cookie. In an adult, he or she may remember that eating too many cookies can have consequences, like weight gain. But because the younger brain is more impulsive(冲动的), the desire to feel the pleasure of the sweet treat outweighs the consequences.
That is because when a child is young, his brain is “wired” in such a way that he seeks pleasure and is more willing to take risks than an adult. This affects his decision-making process and it is why younger people tend to be more impulsive. Sometimes parents have to tell their children over and over again before the child remembers that something is dangerous or risky. How many times have we heard a parent say, “I tell her this all the time, but she never listens!”
To conclude, what we know about the young brain is that children are more likely than adults to be impulsive. It isn't always necessarily because they are being naughty; it may very well be because of their brains. So the next time you ask a child what he really thinks of you, be prepared for any kind of answer.
Decoding the young brain |
|
An experiment on a young child |
A young child answered the question {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the top of his head while an adult paused, and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}twice before he found an answer. |
Causes of the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} reflected in the experiment |
The developing brain of the young child contributed to his honest answer. ◆He was more likely to hurt or offend others {#blank#}4{#/blank#} he didn't intend to do so. ◆It's just the way his brain works and with him growing up, that changes. |
Billions of neurons {#blank#}5{#/blank#}up the human brain have their own mechanism for functioning. ◆The neurons have to communicate with each other, helping us employ our senses and remember things. ◆A person may {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the smell of a cookie with the memory of eating it. ◆A younger brain is more impulsive compared with an adult's. |
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A young child's having a natural {#blank#}7{#/blank#} to seek pleasure and take risks results from his young brain. ◆This affects his decision-making process and it is why younger people act in an impulsive way. ◆Warned many times before, a young child will still try something {#blank#}8{#/blank#} or risky. |
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A conclusion drawn from the experiment |
An adult's ability to control his impulses is much {#blank#}9{#/blank#} and a young child is not {#blank#}10{#/blank#} being naughty when they make hurtful or offensive answers. |
Reading the world in 195 books
In 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country of all 195 UN-recognized states in a year. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books. Others did hours of research on my behalf. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Even with such an extraordinary team behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task.
But the effort was worth it. As I made my way through the planet's literary landscapes, extraordinary things started to happen. Far from simply armchair travelling, I found I was inhabiting the mental space of the storytellers. I discovered, bookpacking offered something that a physical traveller could hope to experience only rarely: it took me inside the thoughts of individuals living far away and showed me the world through their eyes. More powerful than a thousand news reports, these stories not only opened my mind to basic information of life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realized I was not an isolated person, but part of a network that stretched all over the planet.
One by one, the country names on the list that had begun as an intellectual exercise transformed into places filled with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. At its best, I learned, fiction makes the world real.
A. Lands that had once seemed foreign and remote became close and familiar to me. B. And that in turn changed my thinking. C. With no idea how to find publications, I decided to ask the planet's readers for help. D. No matter how long your life is, you will be able to read only a few of all the books that have been written. E. You'll find yourself enlightened by the thoughts and observations of the most gifted writers in history. F. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan's Ak Welsapar, sent me unpublished translations of their novels. |
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