Tony Buzan’s grades were going down at university. Disappointed with his low marks, he went to the library to find a book on how to use his brain. He was directed to the medical section. Confused, he said to the librarian, “I don’t want to take my brain out, I just want to learn how to use it.” Her reply was simple: “There’s no book on that.”
“I thought to myself,” says Buzan, “if I buy a little radio, I get an instruction manual (说明书). If I buy a microwave, I get an instruction manual. But for the most important machine in the world, no instruction manual?”
Fifty years later, Buzan has become the world’s leading speaker on the brain and learning. In the late 1960s, he invented the mind map, a visual representation of thought processes.
This kind of thinking has become a popular tool for planning, organizing, problem solving, and communicating across the world. He has since authored and co-authored over 100 books that have appeared in more than 30 languages.
“I think in most cases, people use less than 1 percent of their brains,” he says.
But how do you expand this 1 percent? How do you become the best student you can be?
According to Buzan, the answer is simple. You take a section of whatever it is that you are trying to learn, he says, and you read it for its essence (精髓、要素). Then you make a mind map of all the important details. For a truly effective mind map, you start with a colored image in the center of your page. Draw the first image that comes to mind on the topic you are mind mapping. Branch off from your central image and create one of your main ideas. From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-branches you can draw even more branches. He emphasizes that you should use plenty of images and colors as these help with memory recall and encourage creativity.
By using this visual format (形式), according to Buzan, your mind will begin to make associations that will help you remember more information for longer periods of time.
Buzan believes that traditional note-taking methods, such as lists and summaries, do not stimulate the brain’s recall capacity or ability in the same way. Because of this, students will often find themselves locked away in their rooms for hours, trying hard to memorize separate details. Buzan believes that for a more effective and lasting way of studying, you must first understand how your brain works.
“Everyone is born smart,” he says. “You just have to learn how to learn.”
【小题1】What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?

A．To show that Tony Buzan was worried about his study.

B．To invite us to think about the importance of manuals.

C．To prove that the mind map is a useful tool for the brain.

D．To show why Tony Buzan studies the brain and learning.

【小题2】What does the word “stimulate” mean in the passage?

A．Excite.

B．Improve.

C．Encourage.

D．Affect.

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

A．If we learn the mind map, we will become the best student.

B．The mind map will help your brain connect separate details.

C．The mind map will be more effective if we put more details in it.

D．We will solve the problem if we make connections between ideas.

【小题4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to make the mind map?

B．Is the mind map widely used?

C．Can your memory be mapped?

D．Is the mind map helpful in thinking?

Dear grandma,

How’s it going? I hope that grandpa is well now. I was sorry to hear that he had a    21  last week. I hope you are in    22  health.

Things are fine here. I finished my end-of-year  23  last week, and got my report card today. I always    24  nervous when I see the envelope   25  school in the mail, but luckily I did OK this time. I   26  a really hard time with science this semester , and I wasn’t surprised to find that my    27  report was from my science teacher. She said I was lazy, which isn’t true .It’s just that I find   28  really difficult. Another disappointing result was in history. My history teacher said I could do better. The good news is that  29  math teacher said I was hard-working. And my Spanish teacher said my listening was good. Well, that’s about all the news I have for now. Mom and Dad    30  their love.

Love,

Alan

1.A. cold    B. lesson   C. picnic

2.A. pity    B. good C. bad

3.A. exercise    B. homework C. exams

4.A. get B. do   C. take

5.A. on  B. from C. about

6.A. made    B. had  C. put

7.A. longest B. easiest  C. worst

8.A. Chinese B. science  C. P.E

9.A. his B. your C. my

10.A. send   B. bring    C. start

 

Childhood is a time of fun and games. Many people still remember when they were young, they often played games like hide-and-seek and chess. Playing teaches children how to get with others, and it also helps to exercise the mind and body. However, children today spend most of their time in front of the computer, playing video games.
A recent survey found that in the US. Children between 8 and 12 spend at least 13 hours a week playing video games or "gaming". Boys of this age spend even more time, almost 16 hours a week. Although some people will say that gaming is helpful, it brings many problems as well.
One big problem is that kids who spend most of their time on games might have difficulty communicating with real people. They might have trouble sharing and resolving (解决) problems because they do not practice these skills when sitting alone at a computer.
Another problem is about health. Game players usually sit for hours without doing any exercise. And they might not eat healthily. As a result, they might be out of shape.
Next, game players might have trouble with their lessons. Many of them spend more time playing games than working on their homework. In the end, they fail in the exams.   
Finally, it is always possible that the gamers become addicted. Some people play four or five hours a day or even all day. This happened to a 28 - year - old Korean man. He spent about 50 hours playing an online game without sleeping or eating well. He died while gaming!
This is one example of the dangers of video gaming. It tells us that video gaming, like everything else, should not be done too much. A few hours a week should not hurt, but several hours a day just might be dangerous to your health.
【小题1】Children of 8 to 12 in the US spend at least _________ hours a week playing video games.

A．13

B．16

C．28

D．50

【小题2】How many problems about playing video games are mentioned in the passage？

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

【小题3】If game players spend lots of time playing games without doing their homework, they might __________.

A．become ill

B．lose their friends

C．die at once

D．get lower grades at school

【小题4】What does the underlined word “addicted” mean in Chinese?

A．悲伤

B．无聊

C．成瘾

D．沮丧

【小题5】What does the writer want to tell us by writing this passage?

A．Video gaming has quite a lot of advantages.

B．Video gaming might be a dangerous thing.

C．Childhood is a time of fun and games.

D．Children should learn how to get along with others.

Jim: Let’s play volleyball, OK?

Tony: Sorry, I don’t have a volleyball. But I have a basketball.

Jim: I don’t want to play basketball. I only want to play volleyball.

Tony: Who has a volleyball? Do you know?

Jim: Maybe Tom has one. Let’s go and ask him. （Say to Tom.）

Hi, Tom! Do you have a volleyball?

Tom: No. I don’t. Does Peter have one?

Tony: Oh, yes, he does.

Tom: Hi, Peter! Do you have a volleyball?

Peter: Yes, I do. But it is at home.

Tom: Sorry to hear that!

Tony: Well, let’s play basketball. OK?

Jim: OK!

Tom: Peter, please join us.

Peter: OK! Let’s play!

根据对话内容，选择每个问题的正确答案。

1.Who wants to play volleyball?

A．Jim.              B．Tony.             C．Peter.            D．Tom.

2.Does Tony have a basketball?

A．Yes, he does.       B．No. he doesn’t.    C．Yes, he is.          D．No, he isn’t.

3.Who has a volleyball?

A．Jim.              B．Tony.             C．Peter.            D．Tom.

4.Where is Peter’s volleyball?  

A．On the bed.        B．At school.         C．Under the desk.     D．At home.

5.Can they play volleyball？

A．Yes,they can.       B．No,they can’t     C． Yes,they do       D．No,they don’t

 

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________.

A．want to be as rich as their neighbours

B．want others to know or to think that they are rich

C．don’t want others to know they are rich

D．want to be happy

2.It can be inferred (推断) from the story that rich people like to ________.

A．live outside New York City                 B．live in New York City

C．live in apartments                       D．have many neighbours

3.Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is ________.

A．an important name                      B．a popular name in the United States

C．his neighbour’s name                   D．not a good name

4.If a person who keeps up with the Joneses, he would _________.

A．do as the poor persons around him do

B．do everything he likes to do

C．do as his neighbours do

D．do as the rich people around him do