(09辽宁)25. Usually John would be late for meetings. But this time,           to my surprise, he arrived on time.  

A little        B. much         C. ever         D. even 

(09辽宁)28.          is the power of TV that it can make a person suddenly famous.  

A. Such           B This        C That        D So 

 (09·北京C篇)

How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings

Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors, But now scientists are giving this feelings an empirical（经验的, 实证的）basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused, and lead to relaxation.

Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room’s ceiling affects how people to think. Her research indicates that the higher callings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.

In addition to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant^’s ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.

Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design ＆Planning Laboratory at    University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.

Recent study on room lighting design suggests that dim（暗淡的）light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.

So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. “We have a very limited number of studies, so we^’re almost looking at the problem through a straw（吸管）, ”architect David Allison says. “How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? Tha^t’s what we're all struggling with. ”

64. What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?

A. Light

B. Ceilings

C. Windows

D. Furniture.

65. The passage tells us that____.

A. the shape of furniture may affect people^, s feelings

B. lower ceilings may help improve students’ creativity

C. children in a dim classroom may improve their grades

D. Students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed

66. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that _______.

A. the problem is not approached step by step

B. the researches so far have faults in themselves

C. the problem is too difficult for researchers to detect

D. research in this area is not enough to make generalized pattens

67. Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?

CP: Central Point   P: point  Sp: Sub—point（次要点）C: Conclusion

 (09·辽宁D篇)

It is true that good writers rewrite and rewrite and then rewrite some more. But in order to work up the desire to rewrite, it is important to learn to like what you write at the early stage.

I am surprised at the number of famous writers I know who say that they so dislike reading their own writing later that they even hate to look over the publishers’ opinions. One reason we may dislike reading our own work is that we’re often disappointed that the rich ideas in our minds seem very thin and plain when first written down. Jerry Fodor and Steven Pinker suggest that this fact may be a result of how our minds work. .

Different from popular belief ,we do not usually think in the works and sentences of ordinary language but in symbols for ideas （known as “mentalese”）, and writing our ideas down is an act of translation from that symbolic language . But while mentalese contains our  thoughts in the form of a complex tapestry （织锦），writing can only be composed one thread at a time . Therefore it should not be surprising that our first attempt at expressing ideas should look so simple. It is only by repeatedly rewriting that we produces new threads and connect them to get closer to the ideas formed in our minds.

When people write as if some strict critics （批评家） are looking over their shoulder , they are so worried about what this critic might say that they get stuck before they even start. Peter Elbow makes an excellent suggestion to deal with this problem. When writing we should have two different minds. At the first stage, we should see every idea, as well as the words we use to express it ,as wonderful and worth putting down . It is only during rewrites that we should examine what we excitedly wrote in the first stage and check for weaknesses.

68. What do we learn from the text about those famous writers?

A.They often regret writing poor works

B.Some of them write surprisingly much.

C.Many of them hate reading their own works

D.They are happy to review the publishers’ opinions.

69. What do people generally believe about the way human minds work?

A. People think in words and sentences.

B.Human ideas are translated into symbols

C. People think by connecting threads of ideas.

D.Human thoughts are expressed through pictures.

70. What can we conclude from the text?

A. Most people believe we think in symbols.

B.Loving our own writing is scientifically reasonable.

C.The writers and critics can never reach an agreement.

D.Thinking and writing are different stages of mind at work.

 (09·辽宁C篇)

A volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.

Grirmsvom is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvom different is that it lies under a huge glacier（冰川） of ice up to 12 maters thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer（层）of water between the glacier and the volcano This layer of water puts pressure on the volcano, keeping it stable, As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava（岩浆） from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what happened today.

Now, airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash. According to KLM. one of Europe’s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane’s engines, causing damage to the plane.

The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp. Glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them from eating ash- covered grass to the sharp object.

64. What makes Grimsvom different from other volcanoes?

A. It is below ice.

B. It lies under the sea

C. It is the largest volcano

D. It is lava affects the airlines

65. What keeps Grimsvotn still?

A. The slow flow of water

B. The low water temperature

C. The thick glacier

D. The water pressure

66. Which of the following is the result of the volcanic eruption?

A. People stop traveling in Europe

B. Airlines suffer from the loss of planes

C. It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside

D. Farmers have lost many of their animals

67. This text is most probably taken from_

A. a research paper

B. a newspaper report

C. a class presentation

D. a geography textbook.