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.

1.The passage is mainly about ______.

2.. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, “object ______”.

3.. What did Bower use in his experiments?

4. Which of the following statements is true?

“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton (骨骼) in the closet (衣橱)?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”

“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t you great-great grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry for my asking. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.

After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper, pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank into a faint (晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.

“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.

1.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.

2. What can we learn about some Australian’s ancestors from Paragraph 2?

3. Jessica’s mother fell down into a faint because she was ______.

4. Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?

5. Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.

1. Having a large family to s__________, he has to work hard to earn more money.

2. He is such a great man that all of us show our r__________ to him.

3. The factory has been e__________ with modern machines.

4. I’m so full that I couldn’t eat another m__________.

5. Tsunami caused many deaths and left even more people h__________.

6.. The company in Nanjing e__________ about 20,000 boxes of wine to the UK last year.

7.. I m__________ in English when learning in university.

8.. When a__________ the house, they found something unusual, so they stopped to have a look.

假如你是学生会主席，你要在学校广播上发布口头通知，内容如下：

学生会将在12月29日晚（星期六）在科技楼会议大厅举办晚会，欢迎来自美国的朋友。聚会7：00准时开始。节目有音乐、舞蹈、唱歌，最后还要和外国朋友交换礼物。请带上自己的礼物，写上自己的名字和祝福语，

欢迎大家踊跃参加。请你写一篇100字左右的英语作文。

注意：1、口头通知的开头和结尾已写好，不计入总字数；

2、参考词汇：科技楼：Science and Technology Building

David wants to be _______ engineer while Cathy wants to be _______ doctor.

The 16^th Asian Games started _______ November 12^th, 2010 in Guangzhou.

Please do not feed the fish; they _____ die if they eat too much.

 I was about to walk over to Tom’s seat when he ____ and left.

David is a great teammate. He knows well how to work with __________.

I must be off now. My friends ________ outside.