It is common to believe that learning just takes place in school, but much of human learning happens outside the classroom, even from birth and people continue to learn throughout their lives.
Even before they enter school, young children learn to walk, to talk, and to use their hands to use toys, food, and other objects. They use all of their senses to learn about the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells in their environments. They learn how to communicate with their parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and other people important to their world. When they enter school, children learn subjects like reading, writing, and maths. They also continue to learn a lot outside the classroom. They learn which behaviors are likely to be rewarded and which are likely to be punished. They learn social skills for communicating with other children. After they finish school, people must learn to deal with many changes that affect their lives, such as getting married, raising children, and finding and keeping a job.
Because learning continues throughout our lives and influences almost everything we do, the study of learning is important in many different fields. Teachers need to understand the best ways to educate children. Scientists, social workers and other human service workers need to understand how certain experiences change people’s behaviors.
Learning is closely related (相关的) to memory, which is the storage(储存) of information in the brain (大脑). Scientists who study memory are interested in how the brain stores knowledge, where this storage takes place, and how the brain later offers knowledge when we need it. However, scientists who study learning are more interested in behavior and how behavior changes as a result of a person’s experiences. ?
【小题1】The underlined word “siblings” in Paragraph 2 probably means _________.

A．teachers

B．classmates

C．doctors

D．brothers or sisters

【小题2】When do children begin to know to behave well according to the passage?

A．After they go into society.	B．Before they enter school.
C．When they are at school.	D．Before they are born.

【小题3】Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?

A．As a matter of fact, learning begins at a person’s birth and last the whole life.

B．Teachers need to understand the best ways to educate their students.

C．People need to understand how certain experiences change their behaviors.

D．Social workers need to study how experiences affect people’s thoughts.

用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空。

1.Daniel told me that he__________ (take) care of my pet for me in the next few days..

2.Britain was the first country in the world__________ (have) a free health system.

3.Boats float in the direction of wind if they__________ (not control).

4.You can show your support to our school football team by_________ (cheer) for our players.

5.When I came into the house, my daughter__________ (sweep) the floor clean.

6.It’s said the prices for house sale _________ (fall) a lot in the past ten months.

7.Cold viruses can also__________ (spread) by objects, such as telephones, plates and keyboards.

8.Our Maths teacher__________ (prepare) the new lesson with other teachers in the office from 2 to 4 yesterday afternoon.

 

Oriole’s Nest
Picky, Picky
Scientists have no idea exactly why birds choose certain objects to build their nests. But scientists know that the main reason birds build nests is to keep their babies safe, warm and healthy.
Baby birds grow faster and are healthier when they are warm. They also learn to fly and leave the nests sooner than birds without warm homes.
What A Yarn (纱)
Yarn is big on an oriole’s shopping list during nest building. Scientists are still trying to work out why so many birds choose white yarn over other colors for nest building.
Scientists think that the white objects remind birds of cotton fluff (绒毛) they find in the wild.
Do It Naturally  
Even though birds can help us recycle some of our junk by using it to build nests, they also need to use lots of natural things. Long grass, dried sticks, spider’s silk and mud are some of the natural ingredients that are good for nests, too.
You can make a collection box of things to leave for birds so they can help themselves. Hang a small plastic box with holes on a tree branch. Fill the box freely with nest building goodies. Hang the box on a tree and watch birds climb on board to pick through the junk to find their treasures.
Warning: Don’t let the birds turn into a tasty treat. Keep your bird station away from places where cats hang out.
For The Birds!
Stop! Don’t throw all that garbage out! Give some to the birds. Look and see how your old junk can help beautify and warm a bird’s new home.
【小题1】The baby birds with warm homes are able to _____.

A．choose right objects	B．leave the nests sooner
C．build good nests	D．learn to fly higher

【小题2】 What can people make for birds to build nests?

A．Holes on the tree.	B．Food out of the rubbish.
C．A warning board.	D．A collection box of things.

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

A．Birds build nests to store things.

B．Birds regard white objects as cotton.

C．Birds and humans can help each other.

D．Birds and cats fight against each other.

 

Many companies use guards and expensive alarm systems to protect their property (财产). Soon a new kind of protection will be used—robots. Engineers have been working on the first mobile robots for businesses. The robots will guard factories, warehouses (仓库) and museums at night.

    The mobile robots will move around slowly on wheels. They will be able to detect (察觉,发现) people through walls and pick up sounds, such as breaking glass. They can be fixed with loud sirens to frighten thieves, or radios to signal police or guards.

    To protect a building, a robot will have to move around without knocking into the walls. Information about the building will have to be stored in the robot’s small, built-in computer. A floor map could be programmed into the computer’s memory, for example.

    A mobile robot will not be able to do everything. Unlike human guards, it will not be able to climb stairs, open doors, or move along rough ground. It won’t be able to tell the difference between friends and enemies. Because of that, people will have to be prevented from entering the area it moves.

    One kind of mobile robot will be able to “sense” whether a chair or a box has been moved and go around it. This robot will also judge size well enough so that it won’t send an alarm if a cat crosses the room. And if someone tries to steal this robot, it will sound a loud, painful siren. The three-foot-tall robot is hard to be stolen anyway. It weighs about 200 pounds.

U.S. companies pay almost $10 billion a year to protect their property with alarm systems and human guards. Mobile robots may be cheaper.  (296)

1. Why is the new kind of robots called mobile robots? Because they can _____.

A. guard factories, warehouses and museums

B. send loud, painful sirens when it is stolen

C. sense moving objects and signal police

D. move around and do the programmed work

2. How will a robot get directions for moving around a building?

A. From a human guard.                                B. From a built-in computer.

C. From another robot.                                  D. From radio signals.

3. What can be the best title of this passage?

A. New Guards.                                               B. Science and Technology.

C. Alarm Systems.                                           D. Engineers and Robots.

 

How many things can you see in the night sky? A lot! On a clear night you can see the moon, some planets, and thousands of sparking stars.

You can see even more with a telescope. You might see that many stars look larger than others. You might see that some stars that look white are really red or blue. With bigger and bigger telescopes you can see more and more objects in the sky. And you can see those objects in more and more detail.

But scientists believe there are some things in the sky that we will never see. We won’t see them with the biggest telescope in the world, on the clearest night of the year.That’s because they’re invisible. They’re the mysterious dead stars called black holes.

You might find it hard to imagine that stars die. After all, our sun is a star. Year after year we see it up in the sky, burning brightly and giving us heat and light. The Sun certainly doesn’t seem to be getting old or weak. But stars do burn out and die after billions of years.

As a star’s gases burn, they give off light and heat. But when the gases run out, the star stops burning and begins to die.

So next time you look up at the night sky, remember: there’s more in the sky than we can see!

1.On a clear night we might see things except______.

A．the moon         B．some planets       C．sparkling stars      D．the sun

2.How can we see even more in the sky?

A．By using a telescope

B．By using a microscope

C．By climbing up to the top of a mountain

D．By going outside on a clear night.

3.What does the underlined word”invisible”mean in Chinese?

A．看不见的         B．听不见的          C．摸不着的         D．无形的

4.When a star’s gases_______,the star begins to die.

A．burn             B．run out           C．give off heat       D．get weak

5.Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．We might see that many stars look larger than others with a telescope

B．We might see that some stars that look white are really red and blue with a telescope.

C．We can see some objects in more and more detail with bigger and bigger telescopes.

D．The sun certainly seems to be getting old and weak.