Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about drinking is the key to critical（判断性的）thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others．Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.

The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen-beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the incorrect reasoning.

Critical thinking is an attitude（态度）as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper（希望深挖）into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.

Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning（高阶推理）are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence（智力）, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein. Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.”

34. Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, __________.

A. it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

B. we might be controlled by other people’s ideas

C. we will follow the ideas of others naturally

D. we might be footed by other people’s ideas

35. If you are a critical thinker, you will __________.

A. think deeply about different ideas                B. trust the reports in the newspapers

C. take one view against another view             D. criticize other people for their mistakes

36. In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that__________.

A. the smarter you are, the faster you do things  

B. the faster you do things, the smarter you become

C. speed can improve intelligence             

D. intelligence is not decided by speed

37. What would be the best title for the passage? 

A. Thinking and Critical Thinking.   　　     B. Understanding Critical Thinking.

C. Thinking Is Natural and Human.  　　     D. Thinking Fast Means Intelligence.

--Which sentence is INCORRECT?

--____________.

A. My parents have got married since 1992.

B. They have known each other well for quite a long time.

C. We haven’t heard from Jack since two weeks ago.

D. It has been ten years since he joined the club.

Reading comprehension(阅读理解)

　　Today is March 17th. About two and a half months ago, I said “Happy New Year!” to many of my friends. Just more than a month ago, I said the same thing to some other friends. In about four days, I'll repeat the same wishes to yet another group of friends. I'll do the same thing in July and also in September.

　　“How can that be?” you might be thinking. “Everyone knows that New Year's Day is in January!”

　　You might ask: “When is the New Year's Day exactly?” Different calendars(日历) give different answers to that question.

　　1．January 1st: New Year's Day on the Western/international calendar.

　　2．Between January 10th and February 19th: New Year's Day on the Chinese calendar(China, Korea, and a few other places).

　　3．March 21st: New Year's Day on the traditional Persian(波斯的) calendar(Iran伊朗).

　　4．Mid-July(usually the 16th): New Year's Day on the Islamic(伊斯兰教的) calendar.

　　5．September: New Year's Day on most Eastern Orthodox Church(东正教的) calendars(Central and Eastern Europe．and, usually, on the Jewish(犹太教的) calendar.

　　And these are just the New Year's Days that I know about! Actually, there are probably even more!

Choose the best answer(根据短文内容，选择最恰当的答案，用A、B、C或D表示)

1．The first time the writer said, “Happy New Year!” was around January 1st. The second time was on or before ________.

[　　]

2．The author will say “Happy New Year” around March 21st to some ________ friends.

[　　]

3．The author uses quotation marks(“”) in the second paragraph to show that the words inside the quotation marks are ________.

[　　]

4．The New Year's Day on most Eastern Orthodox Church calendars and the New Year's Day on the Jewish calendar are ________.

[　　]

A．probably on different dates

B．not always in September

C．probably on the same date

D．always September 1st

5．The Chinese calendar is used ________.

[　　]

A．only in China

B．in several different places

C．only in China and Korea

D．in all Asian countries

6．The word “Years” in the title of this short article ________.

[　　]

A．suggests that January 1.st is at different times on different calendars

B．is grammatically incorrect and should actually be New Year's

C．suggests that one has to say “Happy New Year!” many, many times in his whole life

D．was used because New Year's Day is at different times on different calendars