Psychology（心理学）tells us that many people hate to take risks. But it is good for us to take risks, especially when the risk is to achieve a desired(渴望的) result. In that way, we become stronger and braver.

Our human nature should be to take risks, but some people just sit and wish they didn’t have the fear to move on. This is because they failed a few times in their lives. Please step out and don’t let the past hold you back from living life to the fullest. Move forward and move on! In studying the psychology of taking risks, we find that human nature provides us with the desire to experiment and take chances.

Risk taking is a great advantage that allowed our ancestors(祖先) to become stronger and stronger day by day. By taking risks they fought off enemies and discovered new territories（领土）. This attitude has become a part of our modern culture. Riding a roller coaster is a common risk taking activity. Even each person seems to enjoy the risk although they have the understanding that it is dangerous. This psychological and biological (生物学的) connection creates an interesting connection between what is unsafe and what humans enjoy.

Getting in a car each day is a risk. Getting out of bed is a risk, too. We need to take risks so that we can complete many things. Astronauts take risks when they get inside a rocket(火箭); however, the things they achieve are great. Businessmen take a risk when they buy parts of a company. However, without doing that, they could not make more money.

We need to take risks so that we can gain(获得) something. It is impossible to move forward in life, earn money, enjoy a relationship, play a sport, or do anything else without taking a risk. It is all part of the game. It’s one of the most important parts of life.

1.Some people don’t want to take risks, mainly because ___________.

   A. they are too lazy to move on

   B. they feel pleased with the present life

   C. they have failed several times before

   D. they show little interest in the strange world outside

2.What does the underlined part “This attitude” in Paragraph 3 mean?

   A. Taking risks                          B. Fighting off enemies

   C. Discovering new territories           D. Becoming stronger and stronger

3.What can we infer from the passage?

   A. Daily life is full of risks.

   B. The safest place has the greatest risk.

   C. People should take risks when they are young.

   D. We can always achieve our goals by taking risks.

4. Businessmen take a risk in order to __________.

   A. sell parts of a company

   B. complete many things

   C. make more money

   D. get inside a rocket

5.What would be the title for the passage?

   A. Taking risks is easier said than done    B. Risks taken by ancestors

   C. Live our life to the fullest              D. No risk, no gain.

Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don’t. With the help from their parents, children can learn techniques to improve their reading skills.

“A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them,” Donna George said. “They are sadly mistaken.”

George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable thing parents can do. “It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are,” George said. “Parents are their child’s first teacher.” Parents help their children build listening, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.

     Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy

—television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joines said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a distraction. So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.

     Parents who do not read themselves should not count on their children being interested in it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents’ job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important.

【小题 1】According to George, reading aloud to children_______________.

  A. helps them correct mistakes

  B. is helpful to their reading

  C. is parents’ first duty to their children

  D. can get children out of television’s attraction

【小题2 】The underlined word (in Paragraph 4 ) means something that_________

  A. can improve children’s reading

  B. can help children’s right way of reading

 C. can make children interested in reading

 D. can make children not attentive

【小题3 】Which of the following is important according to the fourth paragraph?

  A. Reading skills.                       B. Reading speed.

  C. Reading materials.                 D. Reading environment.

【小题 4】If the passage is not completed, which of the following can follow the fifth

paragraph?

  A. Parents choose reading materials for their children.

  B. Advice is given to control their children.

  C. What TV programs children can watch during reading.

  D. How children improve their reading by themselves.

【小题 5】 Which one would be the best title for the passage?

  A. Children Spend More Time Reading with Parents.

  B. Parents Are Their Child's First Teacher.

  C. How Parents Make Their Child a Better Reader.

  D. How to Improve Children's Reading Ability.

Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don’t. With the help from their parents, children can learn techniques to improve their reading skills.
“A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them,” Donna George said. “They are sadly mistaken.”
George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable thing parents can do. “It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are,” George said. “Parents are their child’s first teacher.” Parents help their children build listening, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.
Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy
—television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joines said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a distraction. So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.
Parents who do not read themselves should not count on their children being interested in it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents’ job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important.
【小题1】According to George, reading aloud to children_______________.

Nora, a 17-year-old American, notices that when she has to do a paper for school and researches it on the Internet, she rarely reads a whole page and does deep reading. “I’ll read the beginning of a paragraph and then I'll skip(跳过) the rest,” she says.

   While Nora's mother, Martha, loves sitting down with a good book and reading carefully, her daughter may be the wave of the future.

  “Deep reading”, or slow reading, is a process in which people think carefully while they read. With most, that means slowing down --- even stopping and rereading a page or paragraph to really understand what the author is trying to say.

   Last summer, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said he was concerned about what he sees as a decline（衰退）in slow reading. Instant messages and 140-character tweets（微博）appear to be reducing out ability to concentrate on a single idea or theme of a book, he told Foreign Policy Magazine.

   It's easy to forget the benefits of deep reading in an age when anything worth doing is done fast. Experts warn that without deep reading, it is impossible to be an educated person of the world, a knowledgeable voter or even an imaginative thinker.

  “If you want to have a deep relationship with a text and understand a complex idea, then slow reading is a preferred style. It is good for pleasure, too. It is not a rushed experience and you can lose yourself in a text,” said Canadian writer John Miedema, the author of the book Slow Reading.

  US' Ohlone College English professor Cynthia Lee Katona says reading is a highly social activity that builds the mind and social connections. If you read, she says, you simply know more and have more to talk about with friends, partners and people you know.

   Deep reading can also take a reader on a trip around the world even if they are sitting in a living room armchair, Katona says. Also, deep reading helps people develop thinking, writing and conversation skills.

  “If you like beautiful things, authors put words together that are really beautiful and expressive,” she says. “If you want to write well--- and there are lots of reasons to express yourself clearly --- you should read.”

1.The comparison（对比）between Nora and her mother's reading habits _______.

   A. introduces the wave of future

B. adds a lot of fun for readers

   C. explains what deep reading is

D. calls attention to deep reading

2.What leads to the decline of deep reading, according to Eric Schemidt?

   A. The fast pace of modern society.

   B. The lack of desire for knowledge

   C. The weakening ability to concentrate.

   D. The wide use of instant messages and tweets.

3.What does the underlined word “it ” refer to in paragraph 6?

   A. A deep relationship.              B. A complex idea.

   C. Slow reading.                   D. A preferred style.

4.According to the article, Cynthia Lee Katona's opinion of deep reading is that _______.

   A. it makes sure you a better paid job

B. it makes you a better writer

   C. it is better than travelling

D. it helps build better family relationship

5.What is the main point of the article?

   A. The importance of deep reading.

B. How to improve reading skills.

   C. The benefits of different reading styles.

D. The secrets of a knowledgeable person

Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion（冠军）. Like many young trainers, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness prevented her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span(跨度) of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling(与---作战) the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
【小题1】What was Nyad’s early interest?
【小题2】When did Nyad set the record for a ten-mile marathon swimming?
【小题3】According to the passage, how many times did Nyad join the long-distance swimming?
【小题4】What did Nyad do after she finished swimming?
【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?