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　　Managers and office busybodies might be keen on a clean desk－but it seems that in terms of productivity, they could have it all wrong．A messy desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking, say researchers from Germany．

　　The researchers found in a series of linked studies－using a messy desk and a messy shop Front-that people actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos, as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand．Visual and mental clutter forces human beings to focus and think more clearly．Famous thinkers and writers such as Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl have been notorious(臭名昭著的)for their untidy desks．

　　" Messy desks may not be as unfavorable as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees' creativity in problem solving, "say the authors．

　　" Strangely, the effect seems to work most on conservatives(保守的人)－political liberals are less liable to be worried about mess in the first place, "say the researchers．

　　"Business and government managers often promote 'clean desk' policies to avoid disorganized offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity," wrote the lead researcher Jia Liu of the University of Groningen in a paper published in the Journal a/Consumer Research．"This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganized and messy environment can confuse one' s mind and complicate one' s judgment．However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind．"

　　The scientists tested people' s response in various "messy" environments－including a messy shop front, a disorganized desk, and even a work environment where a language task " reminded" people of messiness．

　　The authors found in the series of six studies that people tended towards simplicity in their thinking．

　　" They categorized products in a simpler manner, were willing to pay more for a T-shirt that depicts a simple-looking picture, and sought less variety in their choices," said the researchers．

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阅读理解

　　Question：I have a one-year-old female bulldog, who has recently taken to biting my shoes when we are in the park and I' m on the mobile．She can be slightly aggressive and I' m starting to get worried and a bit annoyed．How do I stop her? Susan, London

　　Answer：You need to get this problem under control before it could escalate(恶化)．I always advise owners not to talk on the mobile phone when they go for a walk with their dogs, because they should be focusing on this time with their pets, but I know people have busy lives and need to make phone calls．

　　The behavior she is showing is either controlling or playfulness, but they both result from the same issue－you are not paying attention to her．If you must make phone calls while on a walk, try to still engage with your dog by speaking towards her, playing some sort of game and so on．If that doesn't work, you' 11 have to try more of a training approach．

　　You will need a training line and some treats．Start your walk in the usual way, make a phone call, and when your dog starts displaying the undesired behavior, simply stop walking－otherwise she will see it as a game．When she is calm and looking at you, or if she sits, give her a treat; then continue walking．If she starts up again, pick up the lead, gently pull it, and tell her "no"．Then ask her to sit and give her a treat if she does．

　　The aim of this is to try to get her to forget how much fun it is biting your shoes．Do little sessions every day－and try not to answer the phone if you know it' s going to be a long conversation．Be patient and good luck!

　　Remember that if an animal shows signs of distress or discomfort, an early visit to the vet is always recommended．

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　　Whitney Elizabeth Houston(August 9,1963－February 11,2012)was an America n singer, actress, producer and a former model．Often referred to as the " Queen of Pop" or simply " the Voice" , Houston was the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards included 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 careez awards as of 2010．Houston was also one of the world' s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums and singles worldwide．

　　Born in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in New Jersey, Houston began singing in a junior gospel choir at age 11．After she began performing alongside her mother in nightclubs in New York City, she was discovered by Arista Records' head Clive Davis, who had an impact on her as a singer and performer．

　　Houston was the only artist to chart seven consecutive(连续的)No．1 Billboard Hot 100 hits．She was the second artist behind Eiton John and the only female artist to have two number one Billboard 200 Album awards on the Billboard magazine year-end charts．How Will I Know enthralled her fans and audience and even several African-American female artists to copy her and follow in her footsteps．

　　Houston' s first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard(1992)．The film' s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year．Its lead single I Will Always Love You became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history．Three years after the release of her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love(1998),she renewed her recording contract with Arista Records．She released her fifth studio album Just Whitney in 2002, and the Christmas-themed One Wish：The Holiday Album in 2003．In 2009, Houston released her seventh and final studio album I Look to You．

　　Houston died of causes yet to be determined on February 11 ,2012．Later this year her film "Sparkle" will be released into theaters．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项ABCD中选出最佳选项。

　　If a noisy neighbor is blasting music at all hours of the day and night, drowning out your phone conversations and interrupting your sleep, you can call the police．But what is a whale to do?

　　Natural noise from waves, wind, rain and even earthquakes is common in oceans．Unfortunately, man-made noise from oil and gas drilling, sonar, and ships is also present．

　　Low frequency noise has doubled off the California coast every decade since the nineteen sixties．The main reasons are ships’ propellers(螺旋桨)．They not only generate continuous low frequency sound, some propellers cavitate(形成气穴), which means they create air bubbles that collapse, creating loud popping sounds．

　　Whales use low frequency calls to communicate across thousands of miles of ocean．They are threatened by noise pollution because it can prevent them from contacting each other and from locating their foods．Endangered humpback and right whales, which use fibrous baleen to strain food from the water, are the most at risk．

　　Scientists studying right whales off Canada's east coast have discovered that whales are sending louder calls through the water to make themselves heard．Because they invest more energy in making calls, they have less energy available for finding food and mating．Other scientists measuring whale calls against background noise pollution have discovered that right whales have lost about eighty percent of their normal communication area．This could seriously affect survival of this already threatened species．

　　Scientists don't have badges and guns, but they are trying to correct the noise pollution problem．By tracking ships and marine mammals and understanding how noise travels, they are creating sound maps．They hope to get shipping lanes moved so that the noise pollution ships create will not overlap with areas most important to the whales．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项ABCD中选出最佳选项。

　　Item 1：JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, has signed a publishing deal with Little Brown, to release her first ever novel for adults．The deal means that Rowling's long-standing relationship with Bloomsbury, the London-based publisher that launched the Harry Potter books, has come to an end, at least in terms of new works by the author．Rowling, who is worth an estimated ￡530 million, said that the new novel will be nothing like the Harry Potter series, which sold over 30 million copies in the UK alone．She said that with the move from children's to adult fiction, a move to a new publisher seemed like a logical step．[More]

　　Item 2：China's hurdler Liu Xiang was disqualified Thursday at the Stockholm indoor athletics tournament due to false start, giving his rival Dayron Robles of Cuba an easy win of 7.66 seconds．Liu was not willing to explain the reason of his false start, but he told Xinhua that it was not related to his foot injury．Another Cuban Orlando Ortega followed in 7.68 seconds and Balazs Baji of Hungary stood third in 7.70 seconds．Last Saturday, Liu won the men's 60m hurdle final in 7.41 seconds at the Birmingham indoor tournament, setting a new Asian record．He said Wednesday that he hoped to have an even better performance than he did in Birmingham at the Stockholm indoor tournament．[More]

　　Item 3：Former NBA star and current Bobcats owner Michael Jordan filed suit in a Chinese court against Qiaodan Sports Company Limited, a sportswear and footwear manufacturer, for the use of his name without permission．Jordan says "This complaint is not about money, it's about principle and protecting my name．" The Chinese company has registered and uses the name "Qiaodan"．Jordan has been known in China since he gained widespread popularity in the mid-1980s．[More]

　　Item 4：A commuter train crashed at a busy central station in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, killing 49 passengers and injuring more than 600 people, the deadliest in a series of train accidents in Argentina over the past years．The train crashed at about 8：30 a．m．at its final stop at the Once Station, not far from downtown Buenos Aires．The train was carrying more than 800 passengers and traveling at an estimated 16 miles per hour when it entered the station, slamming into the barrier of the platform, destroying the engine．[More]

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项ABCD中选出最佳选项。

　　A recent Living Social survey showed that Americans may live up to their poor reputation while travelling abroad．But what's more surprising is that many of those surveyed self-identified themselves as ‘ugly’ Americans and the world's worst travelers．

　　Those in the U．S．ranked themselves as the worst travellers by a shocking 20 per cent, followed by 15 per cent saying the Chinese were the most substandard tourists．

　　Americans topped the list as being the worst-behaved travelers in a survey of 5, 600 respondents, 4, 000 of whom were Americans．Other respondents were in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom．But even American respondents considered their compatriots(同胞)as the worst travelers from a list of 16 nationalities．

　　Canadians and Australians also put Americans in the No．1 spot．Irish respondents pointed to U．K．residents and U．K．respondents gave Germans the nod．On the other hand, 37％ of Americans opted for "none of the above" in answer to the worst-tourists question, displaying more tolerance and open-mindedness than the other nationalities．

　　Other survey questions had respondents admitting pilfering from hotels．Four in ten U．S．survey-takers said they'd stolen something-mostly towels(28％)and bathrobes(8％)．Other popular pinched items included pillows, remote controls, Bibles and sheets．

　　Not surprising is that Americans have less time off from work than other nationalities．Americans reported getting 16 days off, compared with 28 days for the Irish, 27 days for Australians, 23 days for U．K．workers; and 21 days for Canadians．

　　In the travel mishaps department, the most common travel disaster reported by Americans was lost luggage on an airline(21％)； bad weather(21％)； and getting very lost(16％)．

　　As for places Americans most want to see, Disney World and Las Vegas made the top 10, but they weren't at the top of the heap．And New York didn't make the cut．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项ABCD中选出最佳选项。

　　In my dual profession as an educator and health care provider, I have worked with numerous children infected with the virus that causes AIDS．The relationships that I have had with these special kids have been gifts in my life．I have especially learned that great courage can be found in the smallest of packages．Let me tell you about Tyler．

　　Tyler was born infected with HIV; his mother was also infected．From the very beginning of his life, he was dependent on medication to enable him to survive．When he was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in his chest．This tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back．Medications were fastened to this pump and were continuously supplied through this tube to his bloodstream．At times, he also needed supplemented oxygen to support his breathing．

　　Tyler wasn't willing to give up one single moment of his childhood to this deadly disease．It was not unusual to find him playing and racing around his backyard, wearing his medicine-laden backpack and dragging his tank of oxygen behind him in his little wagon．All of us who knew Tyler marveled at(大为惊讶)his pure joy in being alive and the energy it gave him．Tyler's mom often teased him by telling him that he moved so fast she needed to dress him in red．That way, when she peered through the window to check on him playing in the yard, she could quickly spot him．

　　This deadly disease eventually wore down even the likes of a little of a dynamo like Tyler．He grew quite ill and, unfortunately, so did his HIV-infected mother．When it became comforted him by telling Tyler that she was dying too, and that's he would be with him soon in heaven．

　　A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to his hospital bed and whispered, "I might die soon．I'm not scared．When I die, please dress me in red．Mom promised she's coming to heaven, too．I'll be playing when she gets there, and I want to make sure she can find me．"

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　The world is filled with smart, talented and gifted people．We meet them every day．A few days ago, my car was not running well．I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes．He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine．I was amazed．The sad truth is great talent is not enough．

　　I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn．I heard the other day that less than 5percent of Americans earn more than ＄100, 000 a year．A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially．It was this business consultant who gave me the phase, “They are one skill away from great wealth．”

　　There is an old saying that goes, “Job means ‘just over broke(破产)’”．And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions people．Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers“live within their means”．They work and they pay the bills．Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn．

　　When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's? ” almost all the students raise their hands．I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, hoe come McDonald's makes more money than you? ” The answer is obvious： McDonald's is excellent at business systems．The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems．The world is filled with talented poor people．They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　“A very disruptive(调皮捣蛋的)six-year-old child kicked my legs and clawed at my hand”, said one teacher．“l broke up a fight and was kicked between my legs．”said another．Many people have heard stories like this．But the situation is more worrying still and it involves parents．

　　Every child, regardless of the circumstances into which they are born, has the right to achieve their potential, regardless of their parents’ wealth and class．And we recognize that, as a nation, it is a long way to achieve this goal．But with rights come responsibilities and what worries people is that we are in danger of neglecting the latter．

　　Far too many children are behaving badly at schoo1．even to the point of being violent to staff．This is terrible enough, but it is hard to be surprised since many children are just mirroring the behavior of their parents．

　　My members tell me that parents also come into school often and threaten staff and some staff have been attacked by a pupil's parents．One father encouraged his child to start a fight in the playground before school started．A primary teacher reported that a parent shouted at him．We need to have a serious and sensible debate about the roles and responsibilities of parents and the support that they can reasonably expect of schools and teachers．

　　Children will not learn how to behave as social beings if they are stuck in front of the TV for hours everyday．They need their parents to show an interest in them and to spend time with them, helping them to play with their peers and to learn the rules of social behavior．

　　Children are now arriving at school socially undeveloped, increasingly unable to dress themselves, unable to use the toilet properly, unable to hold a knife and fork and unused to eating at a table, Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, writes in today's Observe．Instead of taking responsibility themselves, too many parents expect teachers to control their children's behavior and wellbeing．she adds．Bousted says one mother blamed staff when she discovered that her 16-year-old son was smoking．

　　We are in danger of becoming a nation of families living Separate lives under one roof．The bedroom, once a place to sleep, has become the living space for the young．Spending hours in front of computer screens, on social networking sites or being immersed(沉迷于)in computer games, children and young people spend little time with their parents．Parents are unable to monitor just what their children are watching．

　　Schools cannot fight the wrongs of society and teachers cannot become substitute parents．Both parties need to work together．Parents must be helped and given confidence to take back control．They are responsible for setting boundaries for their children's behavior and sticking to those boundaries．They are responsible for setting a good example to their children and for devoting that most precious of resources-time-so that children come to school read and willing to learn．

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阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

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