Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.

Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregivers. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.

One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.

The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.

Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children.

Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere (干涉) unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression (消沉).

The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.

These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?

  A. The environment.                                     B. Mother’s sensitivity.

C. Education before birth.                        D. Their peers (同龄人)

What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

  A. To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.

  B. To prove that babies can learn before they are born.

  C. To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development in their babies.

  D. To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.

Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

  A. The children of women who did not suffer from depression.

  B. The children of depressed but caring mothers.

  C. The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.

  D. The children with high communication abilities.

What is the main idea of the passage?

  A. Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

  B. Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies’ intelligence.

  C. A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are five or six months old.

  D. Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.

Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.

Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregivers. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.

One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born，the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.

The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.

Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children.

Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.

The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.

These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.

According to the passage，which of the following is NOT the factor that influences the intelligence development in babies?

A. The environment.                                  B. Mother’s sensitivity.

C. Their peers (同龄人).                               D. Education before birth.

What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

A. To prove that babies can learn before they are born.

B. To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.

C. To show mothers can strongly influence the intelligence development in their babies

D. To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.

Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

A. The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.

B. The children of women who did not suffer from depression.

C. The children of depressed but caring mothers.

D. Children with high communication abilities.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.

B. Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies’ intelligence.

C. A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are born or six months old.

D. Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world’s people may not have enough water by the year 2025.
An American organization called Population Action International did the new study. It was more than three hundred and thirty-five million people lack enough water now. The people live in twenty-eight countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or in the Middle East.
Population Action International researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three thousand million people lack water. At least 18 more countries are expected to have serious water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on the earth the same. Mr Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing in these countries will continue to increase.
The report says lack of water in the future may result several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking water is not safe. Mr Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases such as cholera that are carried in water.
Lack of water also may result in more international conflict. Countries may have to fight for water in the future. Some countries, such as Syria, Sudan, Cambodia, and so on, now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability to improve their economies. This is because industries often need a large amount of water.
The Population Action International study gives several ways to solve the water problem. One way is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third is to use less water for agriculture. The report also says long-term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth.
【小题1】According to the report, how many countries will lack water by the year 2025?

C
If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis．From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit．
But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee: public education．
At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world．Yet in terms of its core mission---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing．
The United States does a good job enrolling （招生） teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree．
So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that．Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos．The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching．It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into．They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive．About half of the low-income students with a grade-point average of at least 3．5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have．“I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr．Bowen．
In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates．Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs．“It’s really a waste,” Mr．Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country．” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students．Instead, it appears to have fallen．
What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer．
46. Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?
A．The government．           B．Public education
C．The Detroit automakers．   D．The Wall Street firms．
47．What is a big problem with American higher education?
A．It is hard to enroll enough students into college．
B．Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation．
C．Many college students stay away from classes．
D．It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government．
48．The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______．
A．running to the end of the line        B．going to college
C．finishing college education     D．working hard in college
49．Why do some students under--match ?
A．Because they have financial difficulty．       B．Because they face ambition crisis．
C．Because they lack confidence．         D．Because they can’t get guidance．
50．The passage is mainly about _______．
A．problems with secondary American education and possible solutions
B．America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence
C．low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence
D．relationship between American education and its economy