"Earworms", some people call them. Songs that get stuck in your head go round and round, sometimes for days, sometimes for months. For no clear reason you cannot help yourself from humming or singing a tune by Lady Gaga.

To a psychologist, the most interesting thing about earworms is that they show a part of our mind that is clearly outside of our control. Earworms arrive without permission and refuse to leave when we tell them to. They are parasites (寄生虫) living in a part of our minds.

If you have got an earworm you can suffer an attack of it simply by someone mentioning the tune, without having to hear it. This proves that earworms are a part of long-term memory. Humans have an "inner ear", for remembering phone numbers, for instance. When it gets infected with earworms, rather than review our plans for the day, or lists of things to remember, the inner ear gets stuck on a few short bars of music or a couple of phrases from a song. A part of us that we normally do not have to think about, that should just do what we ask, has been turned against us, upsetting us with a request that we never asked for. The mind is an inner world which we do not have complete knowledge of, or have control over.

Fortunately psychology can provide some advice on how to deal with an uncontrollable mind. Consider the famous "don’t think of a white bear" problem, which tells you to try not to think about white bears, or to do something else, to avoid both thinking of the white bear and not thinking of the white bear. For earworms, the solution may be the same. Our inner ear has become infected with an earworm. This is a part not under our control, so just sending in instructions to "shut up" is unlikely to be of much help (and has been shown to make it worse). Much better is to employ the inner ear in another task. If your mind is poisoned by Brittany Spears’ Toxic, for instance, then try singing Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head. Let me know if it works!

1.According to the passage, earworms are ______.

A．songs that keep going round in our mind

B．worms that live in a part of our brain

C．tunes by pop singers like Lady Gaga

D．parasites clearly under our control

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Singing songs may get earworms out of your head.

B．Earworms are used for keeping long-term memory.

C．Humans do not have complete control over their mind.

D．You won’t suffer from earworms unless you hear the song.

3.What does “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．The instruction to shut up your mind.

B．“Don’t think of the white bear” problem.

C．Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head.

D．Using the earworm-infected inner ear in another task.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The causes and influences of earworms.

B．What earworms are and how to deal with them.

C．How to clear earworms out of your head.

D．The relation between earworms and popular songs.

 

The nose is important for everyone. It can help a person breathe and smell. In fact,it can also be used in many popular expressions.
Some people can lead other people by the nose. For example, if a wife leads her husband by the nose, she can ask him to do whatever she wants him to do.
Some people are said to be hard--nosed. They will not change their opinions of anything.
If some people keep their noses out of other people’s business, they do not interfere
(     ) in anything that has nothing to do with them. The opposite kind of people are those who nose around all the time. They are interested in other people’s personal life.
If someone works hard, he can keep his nose clean or stay out of trouble. How ever, more problems will be caused if a person looks down his nose at others or some things. He thinks they are unimportant. This kind of person might also turn up his nose at anything that he doesn’t consider good enough. He thinks he is better than anyone else.
At school, some students thumb their noses at their teacher. They refuse to follow what their teacher says or do any work. Of course, it is not right for students to do like this.
根据材料内容，从下面方框中选出恰当的短语完成下面五个小题，使句子通顺、意思完整。每个短语限用一次。

A. be hard—nosed     B. nose around     C. keep his nose clean D. turns up his nose     E. thumb their noses

【小题1】 I don’t want to make friends with David because he always       
【小题2】 Maggie likes to talk about others and      
【小题3】My brother used to       , but now he can listen to others’ advice.
【小题4】 Bob and Andy usually        at their parents.
【小题5】Michael works hard all the time, so he can        

Do you know that a fast reader can get the ideas better than a slow reader can? Of course, you save time by reading fast, but this is not the main reason for fast reading. The main reason is that you understand better what you are reading when you read fast.
As your eyes move along the line of point, they make fixations (固定) or pauses (暂停). It is important that you see several words at a fixation. It is also important that your eyes leave a group. The numbers of letters or words that you see at a fixation are called your eye span (视跨). Pay more attention to improving your rate of reading. With practice you can learn to read faster than you usually read.
The way in which you read always depends on (取决于) what you are reading and for what purpose. You should know the different ways of reading so that you can apply whatever method is necessary. Here are four ways of reading:
(1) Skimming is an important kind of reading. This method can be used when you wish to review something that you have forgotten. You can skim to get the main points.
(2) Rapid (快速) first reading and then rereading certain parts carefully is important. You may use this type of reading to study a science lesson or a history lesson.
(3) You need to do careful reading and rereading sometimes. This type of reading is necessary for making an intensive (细致的) study of your school subjects, solving math problems or reading directions.
(4) Rapid reading is used when reading stories for enjoyment. You may also do rapid reading when reviewing materials that you already know well.
【小题1】The main reason for reading fast is that you can ________.

A．get the ideas

B．save time

C．understand better

D．learn well

【小题2】The way of reading always depends on ________.

A．the method that you like	B．your reading material
C．your reading purpose	D．both B and C

【小题3】The word “skimming” means “________”.

A．reading the main points	B．reading carefully
C．reading very fast	D．reading some parts of the material

【小题4】Careful reading is an important kind of reading ________.

A．when you review a lesson that you already know well

B．when you read the directions before using a camera which is expensive

C．when you read a story of enjoyment

D．when you wish to find a lost place that you have read

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms（习语）, though my teacher told us the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be surprised. Gently shaking his head，shrugging his shoulders, he said，“You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a right topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted（打断）again by his words: “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t ask you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “ ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” I realized I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

1.A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because       .

A．I had no interest in them

B．English idioms were very difficult

C．I did not realize the importance of them

D．my teacher didn’t tell us the importance of them

2.At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant       .

A．I had talked too much                    B．I had to stop talking

C．he was not interested in the topic           D．he was only interested in the Great Wall

3.“…was shown in an amusing experience.” The word “amusing” probably means     .

A．interesting        B．important         C．terrible           D．unlucky

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

B．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall.

C．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

5.After the Englishman explained the idiom, ___________.

A．I felt very silly                          B．the Englishman became a real fool

C．I became more careful in everything         D．I thought the Englishman had made me a fool

 

Asking for information or help is a very common and necessary activity, especially when we visit a foreign country. So knowing how to ask for information politely is important. In English, "Where are the restrooms?" and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?" are similar requests—both are correct English, but the first could sound rude. It's important to use correct language, but sometimes this alone is not enough—we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.

In English, just like in Chinese, we change the way we speak when talking with different people. The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well you know them. If you say to your teacher, "Where is my book?" this will sound rude. But if you say, "Excuse me, Mr West. Do you know where my book is?" your question will sound much more polite. On the other hand, it might be alright to say "Where is my book?" in some situations, perhaps with people you know well.

And you would not usually say, "Peter, lend me your pen. " A very direct order like this can sound rude in English. Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language, such as "Could you please...?" or "Can I ask...?" It sounds more polite to say, "Peter, could you please lend me your pen?" Sometimes we might even need to spend some time leading in to a question or request. For example, if you stop a stranger in the street, we might first say, "Excuse me. I wonder if you can help me. " or "I'm sorry to trouble you but," before asking them for help.

It might seem that speaking politely is more difficult than being direct, and in a way this may be true. However, in order not to offend people, learning about the language etiquette is just as important as learning grammar or vocabulary. And doing this will also help you become better at English, or any other language you wish to speak.

1. It's important to know how to_     _in English when we visit a foreign country.

2. When you talk with different people, you need to__       _.

3. Extra words are used to help__      ___.

4.._      _is as important as learning language structure.

5. How do you say " Don't smoke here. " politely? "_         __*