Have you heard of the story of the four-minute miles? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proves it wrong in 1954.

What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when people, who do not know how to swim, fall in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learned swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not.

Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam (堵塞) if the operator typed too fast.

These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers command to your nervous system.

I used a snake in my workshops of children to learn how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes were slippery, slimy(黏糊糊的)  and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.

Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change.

1.From the first paragraph, we know that _________.

A. several people have run a mile in four minutes.

B. Roger Banister set a record

C. nobody has run a mile in three minutes.

D. Roger Banister tied a world record

2. By comparing a drowning animal and a person, the writer tried to show _________.

A. the power of confidence

B. the responses of humans and animals to dangers

C. the difference between humans and animals

D. the power of belief

3.Which of the following statements would the writer agree with?

    A. Our beliefs are impossible to change

    B. How we act mainly depends on our beliefs.

    C. Our beliefs create or destroy our nervous system

    D. Our beliefs always go against the truth

4.The children visiting the writer’s workshops might_________.

    A. learn how to keep off snakes

    B. become brave and realistic

    C. become clever and strong

D. learn to review their beliefs

 

When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a calculating machine to work out the solutions（解法）to maths problems not only with correctness but also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving（涉及）long rows of figures in one continuous operation（运算）.

    In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days than it is now.

    Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools. For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was “No.”

    From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the beginning of the modern computer.

60．The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems _________.

   A．in one operation with few mistakes

    B．in more than one operation without any mistakes

    C．in more than one operation with slight mistakes

    D．in one operation without any mistakes

61．Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______.

   A．he was in poor health                B．he almost ran out of money

   C．his co-workers argued with him          D．he spent all his money on his bills

62．Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _________.

   A．they would agree to his plan              B．they would pay for his new idea

   C．they would support him with money     D．they would exhibit his new design

63．From the passage, we can infer that __________.

    A．Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge

    B．Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily

    C．Babbage always needed support from the government officials

    D．Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer

Dr Asim Syed, 32, has performed more than 100 operations at London’s Hammersmith Hospital in the country’s busiest transplant unit, but never imagined that he would one day become a donor himself.

He stepped forward when was told his 64-year-old mother might be dead within months unless she got a new kidney (肾). The worried surgeon brought her to London to be cared for at his hospital. However, it was not all plain sailing. Tests showed Dr Syed was the wrong blood group, so the only way was to go through a special blood-washing process. He consulted colleagues about that, but they didn’t agree, because the risk of rejection is still too high. Dr Syed and his mother were then advised to consider a new way of donating and receiving, called an organ-paired. That is, Dr Syed donated his kidney to an unknown person and another donor in the chain was a successful match for his mother. The chain of three transplants took place at the same time on July 31 with Dr Syed’s kidney going to a recipient in the Midlands and Mrs. Syed receiving her kidney from a person in the south of England.

Just hours after donating his own kidney, Dr Syed found himself recovering in bed next to his mother. Mrs Syed said, “When I came round from my operation Asim was in the next bed and the first thing he said was, ‘Mum now all your worries are over.’ Tears fell down.”

Now mother and son are recovering well with Dr Syed already back at work. Mrs. Syed is staying with him for several months while the hospital monitors her progress.

He said, “I did what anyone would do when they see a relative suffering disease. Although I wasn’t able to help mum directly, by agreeing to be part of a chain, I was also very happy.”

1. Why isn’t it a plain sailing?

A．No one can treat his mother well.

B．Dr Syed was the wrong blood group.

C．They didn’t have money to be in hospital.

D．Mrs. Syed was unwilling to receive the operation.

2.Why didn’t his colleagues agree to the method of blood-washing?

A．It is very dangerous.	B．It costs too much.
C．They didn’t know how to do it at all.	D．They didn’t have the relative equipment.

3. What can we learn about Mrs. Syed?

A．She was touched by his son’s deed.

B．She has already recovered completely.

C．After operation, she went her own home.

D．She was in hospital in London for many years.

4.What can be inferred from the text?

A．The hospital still needs improving.

B．Dr Syed has love and devotion to his parents.

C．The expense in the hospital is too high to afford.

D．Dr Syed donated his kidney to his mother directly.

 

  The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose(夸大的)words．“Outstanding” is the

new “good,”  “amazing” is the new “OK, ” and “huge” is the new “big.”

    I was in a restaurant in Washington D．C．last weekend and every question I asked was answered with exaggeration．

    Me：How is the salmon?

    Sever：Fantastic!

    Me：Does it come with rice?

    Sever：Absolutely!

    Would a “good” and a “yes” have been enough? Of course!

    My father is an average-sized man．He hasn’t gained weight or height for the past 30 years. Therefore, his size remains the same．However，in the same amount of time，his T-shirt size has gone from small to medium to large to extra large．

  The reason for the exaggerated word is clear：we are bored with our lives. We want the next

—next thing now．Immediately!

    And we also want others to think that we still care，that we can still be delighted，that we know that everything is just great．Even when deep inside we know it can’t be．Everything can’t be great．

  I’m not a scientist，so many methods of proof leave little to be desired，or a lot to be desired，or an immensity(无限)．   

  Listen to the voices around you．Listen to your own voices．There is nothing on the radio that is good or bad，weather is either beautiful or horrible．

  Listen，the next time when someone asks you something and you agree，because when you

could simply say “yes”, instead you will say “absolutely’’ or “without doubt ” or “Oh，yeah，unquestionably ---- absolutely without doubt."

  Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are? If everything is outstanding，if everything is the most amazing thing ever，is anything ever amazing at all?

1.By telling his experience in the restaurant，the author intends to ________．

    A. show his interest in exaggerated words

    B. prove that exaggerated words are widely used

    C. blame the restaurant for using exaggerated words

    D. tell us the food in the restaurant is extremely good

2.What do we know about the author’s father?

    A. He has gained height and is now a tall man．

B. He likes following the fashion in clothing．

C. His weight is getting greater and greater．

D.The size of his T-shirt is described in exaggerated words．

3.．So many people like using exaggerated words because_________．

    A. they are not satisfied with being normal

    B. they don’t want to be looked down upon by others

    C. they want to be different from others

    D. they are brave in telling their true feelings

4.According to the passage，if you approve of something，you’d better say “________”．

    A. fantastic    B. perfect    C. OK          D. absolutely