If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it

   Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is.

The roundness, smoothness, coolness and heaviness are parts of the ball. When you feel all these things about the ball, you really see it.

With your skin, you can feel surprisingly well. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between a nickel and dime in your pocket. You can feel a tiny drop of water on the back of your hand, or a puff of air against your skin. You can even feel sounds against your skin.

Most of us like the feel of fur. We like to touch a fur coat or a fur collar .And we like to pet a kitten because of its soft fur.

All children soon learn what “ Don’t touch” means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep right on touching things as we grow up.

The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk barefoot. Warm sand, cool grass and a soft rug all feel different beneath your feet.

There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things consciously. You are too used to them.

   Most exhibits in museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their sings say, “Do touch!”

   There you can feel the shape of a gun, the smooth silk of a pillow, the rough wood of an old chair. If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you will really see!

1．With your skin ________________.

A．you can’t feel much                     B．you can feel almost everything

C．you can only feel something               D．you can feel nothing

2．Most of us like to pet a kitten____________

A．because its fur feels soft              B．because it can catch rats

C．because we like to play with it           D．because of its beautiful face

3．Why is it not so easy to feel consciously those things around you?

A．You are not used to them              B．You take no notice of them

C．You don’t feel like touching them       D．You are too used to them

4．If you wanted to see things better, ____________

A．open your eyes wider                 B．keep on asking questions

C．go and visit museums                 D．reach out and touch them

5．Which of the following titles do you think best fits the story?

A．Things Feel Soft Hard                 B．Signs That Say “ Don’t touch”

C．To See Better-----Feel                 D．By hearing , by feeling

A

    Each nation has many good people who help to take care of others. For example, some high school and college students in the United States often spend many hours as volunteers in hospitals, orphanages (孤儿院) or homes for the aged. They read books to the people in these places, or they just visit them and play games with them or listen to their problems.

  Other young people volunteers go and work in the homes of people who are sick or old. They paint, clean up, or repair their houses, do their shopping or mow their lawns. For boys who no longer have fathers there is an organization called Big Brothers. College students and other men take these boys to baseball games or on fishing trips and help them to get to know things that boys usually learn from their fathers.

  Each city has a number of clubs where boys and girls can go to play games or learn crafts. Some of these clubs show movies or organize short trips to the mountains, the beaches, museums or other places of interest. Most of these clubs use a lot of high school and college students as volunteers because they are young enough to remember the problems of younger boys and girls

  Volunteers believe that some of the happiest people in the world are those who help to bring happiness to others.

(  ) 1. Where can you often find volunteers in the United States?

A. At a bus-stop.　　B. In a park.　　C. In a hospital.　　D. In a shop.

(  ) 2. How do volunteers usually help those who are sick or old?

A. They mow their lawns, do their shopping and clean up their house.

B. They cook, sew or wash their clothes.

C. They tell them stories and sing and dance for them.

D. They clean, wax and repair their cars.

(  ) 3. What is Big Brothers?

A. It’s the name of a club.　　           

B. It’s a home for children who have no brothers.

C. It’s the name of a film.               

D. It’s an organization for boys who no longer have fathers.

(  ) 4. Why so most of the boys’ and girls’ clubs use many high school and college students as volunteers?

A. Because they have a lot of free time.

B. Because they can still remember what they felt when they were younger.

C. Because they know how to do the work.

D. Because they like younger boys and girls.

(  ) 5. What do volunteers believe?

A. To make others happy, they have got to be unhappy.

B. The happiest people in the world are those who make themselves happy

C. the happiest people in the world are those who help to bring happiness to others.

D. when they are happy, the others will be happy.                            

     Mi Lan loves to buy clothes from Taobao. It saves time and sometimes you can find really cheap goods.

After a recent online shopping, Mi took photos of some of her most satisfying goods and put them to a lifestyle forum(论坛) on Tianya.cn. The 25-year-old hadn’t expected it would be the beginning of a nightmare.

The returning message Mi received were unacceptable. “You call this fashion? How old are you? 50?” read one message. Another accused(谴责) Mi of advertising for these clothes: “Get out of here with your ugly goods! Don’t waste people’s time!” Yet another message questioned Mi’s money situation, saying the clothes looked cheap but that even poor people should have a better fashion sense.
     “I just wanted to share my online shopping experience,” said a deeply red-faced Mi, who deleted her photos from the website the next day. “But now I’ve lost confidence in my image. None of my friends told me before that I dressed in bad taste. Why are people so unkind online?”
     Why? We used to think that people are rude online because of hiding behind anonymous(匿名) situation, we feel like we can get away with anything. But since the rise of social networking sites, we are not as anonymous as we used to be.
     Still, rudeness goes everywhere. Sina’s Weibo, for example, requires users to register(注册) with their real name, yet people do not shy away from using dirty words whenever they disagree with each other. It is worse with some famous people and so-called “public stars”, some of who might even use personal attacks(攻击). Politeness and good manners do not get you noticed on weibos, but strangest and most impolite words will.
     Scientists and researchers have tried to find out why we do wrong things when using social websites. According to a Wall Street Journal article, recent research suggests that visiting social networking sites brings down our self-control.

This is because most of us present a beautified image of ourselves on Facebook or Weibo. This good image and the encouragement we get from good words uplift our self-respect.
     But when we are too proud of ourselves, we might show poor self-control. It’s a bit like drinking: wine might make us feel good, but too much wine harms our minds and makes us lose our self-control. Many people forget that they’re speaking out loud when they communicate online, especially when posting from a smart phone.

 56. What happened to Mi Lan?

A. She got attacked on the Internet.

B. Her photos were well-received on the Internet.

C. She got her first experience in shopping on line.

D. Her advertisement on the Internet was not successful.

57. What does the word "nightmare" in paragraph 2 mean?

A. An exciting experience.

B. An unforgettable experience.

C. A bad dream or something bad.

D. A beautiful dream people have at night.

58. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Shopping on line has many benefits.

B. Mi Lan is a girl fond of sharing with others.

C. Many people often forget they’re speaking out aloud online.

D. Some people are trying to get noticed by using rudeness.

59. The writer wants to tell us that____.

A. shopping online is getting more and more popular

B. visiting social networking sites may lower our self-control

C. people are rude online because of hiding behind anonymous

D. people always use dirty words whenever they disagree with each other