题型:阅读表达 题类:常考题 难易度:困难
北京市西城区2019-2020学年高二上学期英语期末考试试卷(含小段音频)
What's the one thing that the world's leading innovators (创新者) share with children? They both learn through asking questions. It's the simplest and most effective way of learning.
Not asking good or even enough questions has a direct impact on the quality of choices we make. Getting into the habit of asking questions helps us gain deep insight and develop more innovative solutions.
Brilliant thinkers and scientists never stop asking questions. "Asking questions is the single most important habit for innovative thinkers," says Paul Sloane, the UK's top leadership speaker on innovation.
Newton: "Why does an apple fall from a tree but, why does the moon not fall into the Earth?"
Darwin: "Why do the Galapagos Islands have so many species not found elsewhere?"
Einstein: "What would the universe look like if I rode through it on a beam of light?"
Asking these kinds of basic questions started the process that led to their great breakthroughs. And asking questions is as relevant today. Only by constantly asking why can you find better products. Yet somehow, we just don't value questioning as much as we should as we get older. In his book "A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas", Warren Berger used the example of Edwin H. Land, who invented the Polaroid camera in response to his 3-year-old daughter asking why the camera that they used couldn't produce a photo immediately. There are plenty of other cases: Airbnb exists as a response to the question "why should you be stuck without a bed if I've got an extra air mattress (床垫)?" The list is endless, as many companies and even entire industries can be traced back to a single question.
How do we master the art and science of asking effective questions and how do we make it a habit? Here are some suggestions:
⒈Create an environment where curiosity is welcomed and rewarded.
⒉Become a keen observer of everything you see, hear and experience.
⒊Look at the world with fresh eyes question the familiar, and assume nothing is obvious.
⒋Understand the power of different types of questions—how they should be used and when.
⒌Keep asking why till you can go no further.
Asking questions can help us learn, explore the unknown, and adapt to change. Do as listed above and start your journey of practicing effective questioning. Now, are you ready to ask your questions?
The back-to-school season is upon us, and once again, parents across the country have loaded their kids' backpacks up with snack packs and school supplies. It's a good moment to reflect on what else we should be giving our kids as they head off to school.
American parents are feeling particularly anxious about that question this year. The educational process feels more than ever like a race, one that starts in pre-school and doesn't end until your child is admitted to the perfect college. Most parents are more worried than they need to be about their children's grades, test scores and IQ. And what we don't think about enough is how to help our children build their character—how to help them develop skills like perseverance, optimism, responsibility, and self-control, which together do more to determine success than S.A.T. scores or I.Q.
There is growing evidence that our anxiety about our children's school performance may actually be holding them back from learning some of these valuable skills. If you're concerned only with a child's G.P.A., then you will likely choose to minimize the challenges the child faces in school. With real challenge comes the risk of real failure. And in a competitive academic environment, the idea of failure can be very scary, to students and parents alike.
But experiencing failure is a critical part of building character.A recent research by a team of psychologists found that adults who had experienced little or no failure growing up were actually less happy and confident than those who had experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood. “Overcoming those obstacles,” the researchers assumed, “could teach effective coping skills, help engage social support networks, create a sense of mastery over past adversity, and foster beliefs in the ability to cope successfully in the future.”
By contrast, when we protect our children from every possible failure—when we call their teachers to get an extension on a paper; when we urge them to choose only those subjects they're good at—we are denying them those same character-building experiences. As the psychologists Madeline Levine and Dan Kindlon have written, that can lead to difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood, when overprotected young people finally confront real problems on their own and don't know how to overcome them.
In the classroom and outside of it, American parents need to encourage children to take chances, to challenge themselves, to risk failure. In the meantime, giving our kids room to fail may be one of the best ways we can help them succeed.
Back to School: Why Perseverance Is More Important than Good Grades? | |
Common phenomena | Parents throughout America {#blank#}1{#/blank#} their kids' backpacks up with snacks and school supplies. |
Many American parents don't {#blank#}2{#/blank#} enough importance to their kids' character building. | |
The writer's {#blank#}3{#/blank#} | Parents should pay more attention to their kids' character building. |
Evidence and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}findings | Parents' anxiety about their kids' performance may {#blank#}5{#/blank#}them from learning some valuable skills. |
Parents concerned only with a kid's G.P.A. have a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to minimize the challenges the child faces. | |
Adults who have experienced a few significant setbacks in childhood are {#blank#}7{#/blank#} and more confident than those who haven't. | |
Denying kids character-building experiences can {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in difficulties in adolescence and young adulthood. | |
The writer's suggestions | {#blank#}9{#/blank#} kids to be risk-takers. |
Give kids room to experience {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. |
If you want to make a great first impression—and why wouldn't you—you know there are basic steps you can take: you should smile, make eye contact, talk less than the other person, and ask questions about him or her. Anyone can do those things.
But what you might not know is that if you think other people are going to like you, they usually will. As research shows, interpersonal warmth explains the scene: study participants who expected to be accepted were sensed as more likable. (when you think other people will like you, you act in a more natural way—which then makes people like you more since we tend to like warm, friendly people.)
All of which sounds great, but when you're shy or insecure, you might believe that other people will like you. When you're not familiar with the setting or do not feel comfortable, it's a lot easier to believe people don't like you.
So how can you convince yourself that people will like you? Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and commit to taking a few steps that ensure almost anyone will like you.
⒈Give a sincere compliment(称赞).
Everyone loves praise, especially since no one gets enough praise. Show interest by asking questions. But go past, "What do you do?" Ask what it's like to do what the person does. Ask what's hard about it. Ask what the person loves about it. You'll soon find things to compliment.
⒉Focus on letting people talk about themselves.
People love to talk about themselves.
Research shows approximately 40 percent of everyday speech is spent telling other people what we think or feel—basically, talking about our subjective experiences.
By helping people talk about themselves, you're seen as a great conversationalist. In fact, you say very little. Even if you haven't succeeded in making people fully understand you, it is OK. And in the process, you also make other people feel better about themselves, and that makes them like you.
That's another win-win.
⒊Change one word.
Think about the difference in these statements:
I had to go to a meeting.
I got to meet with some great people.
I have to interview some candidates for a job.
I get to select a great person to join our team.
No big deal, right? Wrong. We like to be around the people who have enthusiasm and motivation.
Keep in mind choosing the right words also affects how you feel. Don't say, "I have to go to the gym." Say, "I want to go to the gym."
⒋Show a little weakness.
Great teams are often led by people willing to admit weaknesses and failings.
Want to make a great first impression? Don't try to impress. Instead, be humble. Admit your mistakes. Laugh at yourself.
When you do, other people won't laugh at you. They'll laugh with you.
And they'll immediately like you, and want to be around you more.
Common sense | If you want to make a great first impression, you are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to smile, make eye contact, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} more than you talk, and ask questions about the other person. |
Interpersonal warmth principle | If you think other people are going to like you, they usually will, so you act more{#blank#}3{#/blank#} and make yourself liked more since everyone tends to like warm, friendly people. |
When you're in an unfamiliar setting or feel {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, it's a lot easier to assume that people{#blank#}5{#/blank#} you. | |
{#blank#}6{#/blank#} for being likable | ●Everyone loves to be {#blank#}7{#/blank#}, especially since no one gets enough praise. Show interest by asking questions, you'll soon find things to compliment. |
●By helping people talk about themselves, you're seen as a great conversationalist even when you say very little. Maybe you needn't {#blank#}8{#/blank#} all of your ideas across. | |
●We like to be around {#blank#}9{#/blank#} and motivated people, so keep in mind choosing the right words also affects how you feel. | |
●Admit weaknesses and failings, other people will laugh with you {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of laughing at you. |
注意:每个空格只填1个单词。
New discoveries suggest that trade between Europe and Asia along the Silk Road probably began many centuries earlier than once thought. The findings add a fascinating new page to the epic(史诗)of the Silk Road, which spread far and wide in no time.
The latest and most surprising discovery is pieces of silk found in the hair of an Egyptian mummy from about 1,000 BC, long before regular traffic on the Silk Road and at least one thousand years before silk was previously thought to be used in Egypt. Other research may extend human activity along this route back even further, perhaps a million years to the moving of human ancestors into eastern Asia
The official origin of East-West trade along the road is usually placed in the late 2nd century BC when an agent of the Chinese Emperor Wudi returned from a dangerous secret mission across the desert into the remote high country of Central Asia. The agent, Zhang Qian, traveled as far as Afghanistan and brought back knowledge of even more distant lands such as Persia, Syria and a place known as Lijien, perhaps Rome. Historians(历史学家)have called this one of the most important journeys in ancient times. His journey opened the way for what have been thought to be the first indirect contacts between the ancient world's two superpowers, China and Rome. Chinese silk, first traded to Central Asia for war horses, was soon finding its way to the markets of Rome through a network of businessmen.
But the new discoveries show that Chinese silk apparently existed in the West long before the Han emperor started organized trade over the Silk Road. The research could change thinking about the early history of world trade and provide insights into the mystery(谜) of just how and when Europe first realized the glorious culture at the other end of Eurasia.
Paragraph outline |
Supporting details |
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Introduction |
New findings about the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} of trade along the Silk Road are spread far and wide in no time. |
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The latest discovery |
The silk thread found in the hair of an Egyptian mummy from about 1,0 BC makes all feel greatly surprised. The discovery suggests the trade along the Silk Road may {#blank#}2{#/blank#} back to an earlier time than once {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. |
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Zhang Qian's mission |
The accepted official {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of East-West commerce along the Silk Road. |
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Opening the way for the first indirect contacts between{#blank#}5{#/blank#}the two ancient superpowers, China and Rome {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Chinese silk to Central Asia and Persia Making Chinese silk {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the markets of Rome. |
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{#blank#}8{#/blank#}. |
Show the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} of Chinese silk in the West long before the Han Dynasty. Change thinking about the early history of world peace. Help people find out more facts about Europe first {#blank#}10{#/blank#} Chinese culture. |
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