Tony Buzan’s grades were going down at university. Disappointed with his low marks, he went to the library to find a book on how to use his brain. He was directed to the medical section. Confused, he said to the librarian, “I don’t want to take my brain out, I just want to learn how to use it.” Her reply was simple: “There’s no book on that.”
“I thought to myself,” says Buzan, “if I buy a little radio, I get an instruction manual (说明书). If I buy a microwave, I get an instruction manual. But for the most important machine in the world, no instruction manual?”
Fifty years later, Buzan has become the world’s leading speaker on the brain and learning. In the late 1960s, he invented the mind map, a visual representation of thought processes.
This kind of thinking has become a popular tool for planning, organizing, problem solving, and communicating across the world. He has since authored and co-authored over 100 books that have appeared in more than 30 languages.
“I think in most cases, people use less than 1 percent of their brains,” he says.
But how do you expand this 1 percent? How do you become the best student you can be?
According to Buzan, the answer is simple. You take a section of whatever it is that you are trying to learn, he says, and you read it for its essence (精髓、要素). Then you make a mind map of all the important details. For a truly effective mind map, you start with a colored image in the center of your page. Draw the first image that comes to mind on the topic you are mind mapping. Branch off from your central image and create one of your main ideas. From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-branches you can draw even more branches. He emphasizes that you should use plenty of images and colors as these help with memory recall and encourage creativity.
By using this visual format (形式), according to Buzan, your mind will begin to make associations that will help you remember more information for longer periods of time.
Buzan believes that traditional note-taking methods, such as lists and summaries, do not stimulate the brain’s recall capacity or ability in the same way. Because of this, students will often find themselves locked away in their rooms for hours, trying hard to memorize separate details. Buzan believes that for a more effective and lasting way of studying, you must first understand how your brain works.
“Everyone is born smart,” he says. “You just have to learn how to learn.”
【小题1】What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?

A．To show that Tony Buzan was worried about his study.

B．To invite us to think about the importance of manuals.

C．To prove that the mind map is a useful tool for the brain.

D．To show why Tony Buzan studies the brain and learning.

【小题2】What does the word “stimulate” mean in the passage?

A．Excite.

B．Improve.

C．Encourage.

D．Affect.

【小题3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．If we learn the mind map, we will become the best student.

B．The mind map will help your brain connect separate details.

C．The mind map will be more effective if we put more details in it.

D．We will solve the problem if we make connections between ideas.

【小题4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to make the mind map?

B．Is the mind map widely used?

C．Can your memory be mapped?

D．Is the mind map helpful in thinking?

I’m Millie.I’m 12　1　old.I have black　2　 and black hair.I　3　born in Beijing and I live 　4　 Hoping Road.I have a brother.　5　 name is Andy.I like　6　TV and Andy 　7　 listening to the radio.I have 　8　of good friends at school.My　9　 friend is Kitty.She is my classmate.She is a good student.She wants to be a doctor when she 　10　up.?

1.A.month　         B.months　           C.year　                      D.years?

2.A.mouth　         B.nose                   C.eyes　                      D.eye?

3.A.am                  B.is                       C.was                           D.are?

4.A.in                   B.on                            C.for                            D.with?

5.A.His                 B.He                     C.Her                           D.She?

6.A.watch              B.watches              C.to watch　                D.watching?

7.A.like                 B.love                   C.enjoys                       D.enjoy?

8.A.lot                  B.lots                    C.a lots                        D.lot a?

9.A.good 　          B.better                 C.best                          D.well?

10.A.gets               B.puts                   C.rings                         D.grows

 

C

“Everything happens for the best.” Whenever I faced disappointment, my mother would say this to me.

After I graduated form college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer(广播员). I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I was refused every time.

At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn’t hire(雇佣) a person without any experience and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no such jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local athlete to work for it. I wanted this job, but I was refused again.

“Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, I felt so frustrated. “How can I become a sports announcer if I can’t get a job in a radio station?” I asked aloud.

While I was waiting for the elevator, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he asked me to have a try. He was pleased with my performance, and he offered me a chance to work there.

On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if without the failure before.”

1.Why couldn’t the writer find a job at big radio stations?

A．Because he never graduated from college.

B．Because he didn’t work hard in college.

C．Because he didn’t have much experience.

D．Because he didn’t know about sports.

2.Which of the following is the correct order of events?

a. The writer got a job as a sports announcer at a radio station.

b. The writer was refused when he wanted jobs in Chicago.

c. The writer graduated from college.

d. The writer went back to his hometown to look for a job.

A．cbda

B．cbad

C．bcda

D．bcad

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The writer’s parents didn’t want him to be a sports announcer.

B．There were no radio announcer jobs in the writer’s hometown.

C．The writer became uninterested in being a sports announcer.

D．The writer got a job as a sports announcer in Dixon at last.

4. According to the last paragraph, what did the writer’s mom want to tell him?

A．He shouldn’t be a sports announcer.

B．Disappointment leads to failure.

C．He should be proud of himself.

D．Everything will be OK if he keeps trying.

 

Welcome to your favorite show－"Music Land" ! This month we are going to have some special shows on Bach, the Father of Music.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany(德国)in 1685. During his life, Bach wrote a lot of music for the church (教堂) and for his students, but he himself did not keep his own works(作品) carefully. Luckily, his second wife(妻子)saved them for him, so today we can still remember Bach through his music.
Bach married twice in his life and had 20 children. He loved his family very much. He wrote music for one of his daughters to tell her that too much coffee was bad for her health. I am now going to play a song for you from this interesting Coffee Cantata. And we will hear more about Bach after this song.
【小题1】Why is Bach’s second wife important to his music?

A．She helped Bach keep his works.

B．Many of Bach’s works were for her.

C．She gave Bach a lot of good ideas about music.

D．Her money helped Bach write music.

【小题2】 Why did Bach write the Coffee Cantata?

A．To celebrate his birthday.

B．To show people his love of coffee.

C．To tell his child not to drink so much coffee.

D．To make a new kind of music for the church.

【小题3】 What is this passage mainly(主要地)about?

A．Ways to learn Bach’s music.

B．The Bach family’s history.

C．Bach’s great church music.

D．Stories about Bach and his music.

【小题4】 This passage may be a ______.

A．fashion show	B．radio show
C．TV play	D．talk show

Four years ago my sweet mom went to be with her Lord. She did it her way.
I got the call at work, and I headed home quickly. Mom and Dad lived on a small farm that they had owned since I was seven. I hated going there every weekend. There was nothing for a young girl to do but watch the one station on the old TV set, if the weather allowed reception（接收）.
My mom, on the other hand, loved the peace and quiet of the land and loved to work in the garden among her flowers and vegetables. The place was simple, with no indoor plumbing or heat. We had a big wood stove in the kitchen that did its best to heat the little farmhouse, but it always seemed cold and too quiet to me.
In the evenings, my mom and I would sit for hours singing in the little kitchen. I sang the melody and Mom harmonized. Her favorite song was "Moon River" and we sang it over and over. Mom told me stories about how when I was a little girl, I could sing before I could talk. She loved to tell how my playpen（婴儿圈栏）sat in the kitchen next to the radio and there was one song I particularly loved called "Ivory Tower".
As time passed, I had my own children and went to visit the farm every week or two. The kids loved the farm and the tractor rides with my dad. Me, well, I still hated the silence of the farm. While my mom loved to sit at her kitchen table and look out at her garden and flowers and retell all the old stories, I missed the hustle and bustle（喧闹）of my life at home. But I sat there listening quietly as she reminisced.
Now, I sat back in the silence and the silence was deafening so I finally leaned over to turn on an old radio. Music always comforted me.
My heart skipped a beat. "Moon River" was playing on the radio. I sat there stunned, with a tear running down my cheek, as I listened to every familiar note.
Then the radio announcer of this oldie station came on. "Here's one we haven't heard in a while," and an unfamiliar song began. I began to cry harder as I heard the words sung over the airwaves. “Come down, come down from your Ivory Tower...”.
【小题1】The writer didn’t like staying in the farm for the following reasons EXCEPT that
________.

A．it was too cold and quiet

B．she could only sing one song on the small farm

C．there was nothing more that could make her excited

D．The place was simple, with no indoor plumbing or heat

【小题2】From the first paragraph, we know that the writer’s mother ________.

A．passed away four years ago

B．left the small farm with Lord

C．left for Lord to live her own way

D．preferred to be with Lord

【小题3】The underlined word reminisced in the fifth paragraph probably means ________.

A．recalled

B．comforted

C．shouted

D．sighed

【小题4】Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage _______.

A．The writer was able to sing before she could speak.

B．The writer preferred to live a busy life in the city.

C．The writer was still quite familiar with the song "Ivory Tower".

D．The writer treasured all her childhood memories in the small farmhouse.

【小题5】Which of the following would be the best title for this passage? _______

A．Cherish life	B．My happy childhood
C．Our small farmhouse	D．Mom’s music