A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible (负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
【小题1】The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbour.

A．happy about

B．angry about

C．sorry for

D．excited about

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man was not kind enough.

C．The woman found all the feathers at last.

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题3】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助

Once a baby cries, the parents will go to see what happened as soon as possible. According to a new study, a baby's cry can make adults react(反应) very quickly, even if they are not related.
Oxford University researchers used the classic game whack-a-mole for the study.  Whack-a-mole(打鼹鼠游戏) requires people to hit one of nine buttons (按钮). The players must react as quickly as they can to whichever of the buttons lights up at random(随机). It is a game that requires speed and accuracy (准确度 ).
The study included 40 men and women volunteers aged 19 to 59. Some of them had sons or daughters but none had a baby at the time. They played whack-a-mole after listening to different sounds, including babies crying, the crying of adults in trouble and birdsong played at a similar pitch to the babies' cries.
The volunteers' scores were higher after listening to the sound of crying babies. Men and women had similar scores overall. The results showed that a crying baby gets special attention.
"Few sounds make people react quite like the cry of a baby," said Morten Kringelbach of Oxford's psychiatry（精神病学） department, who led the study. "For example, it's almost impossible to ignore(忽视，不理) crying babies on planes. This is true even though there are so many other noises around." 
He added that a baby's cry can increase adults' heart rate and blood pressure. This is understandable, because in the course of human evolution (进化), taking care of babies has always been an important job for adults. When a baby is hungry or feeling bored or unwell, it will cry. As a result, human brains and bodies develop a special reaction to a baby's cry.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．There were 80 volunteers who took part in the study.

B．The youngest volunteer was 19 and the oldest was 59.

C．Some volunteers had babies at that time in the study.

D．The volunteers were affected by the sound of a baby’s cry.

【小题2】The game “whack-a-mole” shows ______.

A．a baby’s cry can get special attention from adults

B．men and women have different reaction speed and accuracy

C．adults without babies react less quickly to a baby’s cry

D．women react to a baby’s cry more quickly than men

【小题3】“Whack-a-mole” requires people to hit _____ at a time.

A．one button	B．one of nine buttons
C．nine buttons	D．ten buttons

【小题4】According to the passage, a baby’s cry ______.

A．has the same pitch as birdsong

B．is the noisiest sound there is

C．can increase adults’ heart rate and blood pressure

D．is good for its health

【小题5】From the last paragraph, we learn that ______.

A．taking care of the younger babies was the most important thing in the past

B．human brains and bodies have developed to take care of babies

C．baby cries are a good way make adults react quickly

D．baby cries have developed a lot during the course of human evolution

Once there was a piano player in a bar. People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.
"I don't sing," said the man.
But the lady told the waiter, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!
The waiter shouted across the room, "Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!'
So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!
He had talent(天赋) he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found, by accident, that he could sing well, he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just sit on your talent.
【小题1】The lady asked the player to sing a song because _____.

A．she had paid him for this

B．she knew him very well

C．she wanted to have a change

D．she enjoyed his singing

【小题2】Nat King Cole succeeded because _____.

A．the lady helped him a lot

B．he caught the chance

C．he continued to play in the bar

D．he stopped playing the piano

【小题3】The words "sit on" in the passage probably mean"

A．参加

B．搁置

C．开发

D．展示

【小题4】Which could be the best title for the passage?

A．Sing in the Bar

B．Achieve Success in Life

C．Never Lose Heart

D．Find Your Hidden Talent

Once a baby cries, the parents will go to see what happened as soon as possible. According to a new study, a baby's cry can make adults react(反应) very quickly, even if they are not related.
Oxford University researchers used the classic game whack-a-mole for the study.  Whack-a-mole(打鼹鼠游戏) requires people to hit one of nine buttons (按钮). The players must react as quickly as they can to whichever of the buttons lights up at random(随机). It is a game that requires speed and accuracy (准确度 ).
The study included 40 men and women volunteers aged 19 to 59. Some of them had sons or daughters but none had a baby at the time. They played whack-a-mole after listening to different sounds, including babies crying, the crying of adults in trouble and birdsong played at a similar pitch to the babies' cries.
The volunteers' scores were higher after listening to the sound of crying babies. Men and women had similar scores overall. The results showed that a crying baby gets special attention.
"Few sounds make people react quite like the cry of a baby," said Morten Kringelbach of Oxford's psychiatry（精神病学） department, who led the study. "For example, it's almost impossible to ignore(忽视，不理) crying babies on planes. This is true even though there are so many other noises around." 
He added that a baby's cry can increase adults' heart rate and blood pressure. This is understandable, because in the course of human evolution (进化), taking care of babies has always been an important job for adults. When a baby is hungry or feeling bored or unwell, it will cry. As a result, human brains and bodies develop a special reaction to a baby's cry.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．There were 80 volunteers who took part in the study.

B．The youngest volunteer was 19 and the oldest was 59.

C．Some volunteers had babies at that time in the study.

D．The volunteers were affected by the sound of a baby’s cry.

【小题2】The game “whack-a-mole” shows ______.

A．a baby’s cry can get special attention from adults

B．men and women have different reaction speed and accuracy

C．adults without babies react less quickly to a baby’s cry

D．women react to a baby’s cry more quickly than men

【小题3】“Whack-a-mole” requires people to hit _____ at a time.

A．one button	B．one of nine buttons
C．nine buttons	D．ten buttons

【小题4】According to the passage, a baby’s cry ______.

A．has the same pitch as birdsong

B．is the noisiest sound there is

C．can increase adults’ heart rate and blood pressure

D．is good for its health

【小题5】From the last paragraph, we learn that ______.

A．taking care of the younger babies was the most important thing in the past

B．human brains and bodies have developed to take care of babies

C．baby cries are a good way make adults react quickly

D．baby cries have developed a lot during the course of human evolution

A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole neighborhood knew the story. The neighbor was deeply hurt. Later the woman learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the market,” he said, “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pick its feathers(毛) and drop them one by one along the road.” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After looking for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“You see,” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread（散布） a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo（弥补） the wrong.”
【小题1】Why did the woman feel sorry?

A．She didn’t know the story.

B．She hurt her neighbor deeply.

C．She was hurt deeply.

D．She was told an untrue story.

【小题2】The underlined word “discouraged” might mean          .

A．surprised

B．excited

C．upset

D．pleased

【小题3】Which of the following statements is true?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man is not kind enough.

C．All the feathers had been blown away..

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题4】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”.

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助