Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries may speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check this in a dictionary.
【小题1】The writer thinks that ___________.

A．choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English

B．dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English

C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

D．using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?

A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious shortcomings.

D．Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries.

【小题3】When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?

A．At the beginning of the reading	B．At the end of the reading
C．During the first reading	D．After the first reading

【小题4】This passage mainly tells us .

A．that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

B．what were the shortcomings of small two-language dictionaries

C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries

D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

Jack went to a barber's shop and had his hair cut, but when he came out, he was not happy with the result(结果). When his friend Bob saw him, he laughed and said, "What has happened to your hair, Jack?"
Jack said, "I tried a new barber's shop today, because I wasn't quite satisfied with my old one, but this one seems even worse."
Bob agreed(同意). "Yes, I think you're right, Jack. Now I'll tell you what to do when you go into a barber's shop next time: look at all the barber's hair, find out whose hair looks worst, and then go straight to him."
"Why shall I go to him?" Jack asked. "But that would be foolish!"
"Oh, no, it wouldn't," answered Bob. "Who cut that man's hair? Just think it. He couldn't cut it himself, could he? Another of the barbers cut it. So you know he can't be the worst barber."
【小题1】 When Jack went out of the barber's shop, he was not happy because ____.

A．nobody had cut his hair

B．the barber hadn't cut his hair well

C．the barber had cut his hair carefully

D．he was not satisfied with his old barber

【小题2】"I tried a new barber's shop today." means ____.

A．this barber's shop was a new one

B．this was the only barber's shop in this town

C．Jack often went to this barber's shop

D．Jack had not been to this barber's shop before

【小题3】After Jack had his hair cut, he thought ____.

A．the new barber's shop was the best one

B．the old barber's shop wasn't so good as the new one

C．the new barber's shop was worse than the old one

D．the old barber's shop was the worst one

【小题4】Bob told Jack to find out which barber's hair looked the worst and then go straight to him. Why?

A．Because he was certainly the best barber.

B．Because he was free all the time.

C．Because he was the worst barber.

D．Because he wasn't the worst barber.

【小题5】From the story we know that ____.

A．it's foolish to have one's hair cut at a barber's shop

B．barbers cut each other's hair

C．barbers never have their hair cut

D．a barber always cuts his hair by himself

It was early morning. Peter Corbett helped Mark Wellman out of his wheelchair and onto the ground. They stood before El Capitan, a huge mass of rock almost three-quarters of a mile high in California’s beautiful Yosemite Valley. It had been Mark’s dream to climb El Capitan for as long as he could remember. But how could a person without the use of his legs hope to try to climb it?
Mark knew he couldn’t finish the climb alone, but his friend Peter, an expert rock climber, would be there to lend a helping hand. He and Mark thought that it would take seven days to reach the top.
Peter climbed about 100 feet up and hammered a piton(岩钉) into the rock. Fastening one end of a 165-foot rope to the piton, he let one end of the rope fall down. Mark caught the rope and fastened it to his belt with a special instrument. This instrument would allow Mark to move upward, but would prevent him from falling even as much as a single inch. He next reached above his head and fastened a T-shaped bar to the rope, using the same kind of instrument.
Mark took a deep breath, pushed the T-bar up almost as far as his arms could reach, and began the first of the 7, 000 pull-ups needed to reach the top. High above, Peter let out a cheer. “You’re on your way.”
Seven years before, at the age of twenty-one, Mark had fallen while mountain climbing, injuring his backbone. The fall cost him the use of his legs, but he never lost his love of adventure or his joyful spirit.
For the first four days the two men progressed steadily upward without incident. But on the fifth day an unbearably hot wind began to blow, and as time went by, it became stronger and stronger, causing Mark to sway(摇摆) violently on his rope. But Mark kept on determinedly pushing up the T-bar and pulling himself up. In spite of that, he had to admit that he felt a lot better when the wind finally died down and his body touched solid rock again.
It took them one day more than they had expected, but on July 26 at 1:45 in the afternoon, the crowd of people waiting on the top went wild with joy as the two heads appeared. Mark Wellman had shown that if you set your heart and mind on a goal, no wall is too high, no dream impossible.
【小题1】What had Mark Wellman long desired to do?

A．To finish one of the most difficult rock climbs in the world.

B．To be the first to climb El Capitan.

C．To climb the highest mountain in California.

D．To help his friend Peter climb El Capitan.

【小题2】How did Mark climb the mountain?

A．He fastened the rope to his wheelchair.

B．He hammered in pitons so that he had something to hold on to.

C．He held on to the T-bar and Peter pulled him up.

D．He pulled himself up using a T-bar and special equipment.

【小题3】 How did Mark lose the use of his legs?

A．He lost his footing and fell from the side of a mountain.

B．He fell during his first attempt on El Capitan.

C．His legs were broken by falling rocks.

D．While working out in the gym, he injured his backbone.

【小题4】What was the worst problem Mark had during the climb?

A．He struck against the rock and hurt his arms.

B．A strong wind blew him away from the rock.

C．He kept falling several inches.

D．While swaying in space, he became terrified.

【小题5】How did Mark react to difficulties during the climb?

A．He admitted that he was frightened.

B．He often worried about his friend’s condition.

C．He was able to remain clam and determined.

D．He was joking to cheer himself up.

Some students get so nervous before a test, and they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock: “what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reassess the situation. They might realize it’s not as hard as they might think it was before and, in essence, it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
【小题1】What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?

A．Test anxiety can improve students’ performance to some degree.

B．Students’ attention and memory resources run out when worried.

C．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried

D．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test.

【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test.

B．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better.

C．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse.

D．Some college students are highly anxious test-takers while others are not..

【小题3】What does the underlined phrase “popping up” mean?

A．Giving out	B．Fading away
C．Becoming clear	D．Appearing suddenly

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．It is a common practice for students to get worried before a test.

B．Being worried before tests does harm to students’ performance.

C．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears.

D．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety.

Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables (音节), they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary.
【小题1】 The writer thinks that        .

A．choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English

B．dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English

C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

D．using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following is wrong?

A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious defects (缺陷).

D．Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries.

【小题3】When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?

A．At the beginning of the reading

B．At the end of the reading

C．During the first reading

D．After the first reading

【小题4】This passage mainly tells us        .

A．students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

B．what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries

C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries

D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

【小题5】 Which is not mentioned in this passage?

A．How to make good use of a dictionary.

B．When to use a dictionary.

C．How to improve spoken English.

D．How to practise reading fast.