23–year–old Ann is a traditional working class woman who is happily married to her husband Don and who has given birth to two lovely daughters Patsy and Penny. Ann   1   her work with her colleague Laurie because they can   2   to each other while cleaning the buildings their work requires them to. One   3   thing about Ann is that she listens to recordings of foreign languages – Spanish, French, even Chinese   4   driving, even working. In Laurie’s eye, Ann is not normal, but Ann   5  that nobody is normal; everyone is different in   6  way. Laurie’s specific problem is not an unusual one: the   7  between a strong appetite for food and an equally strong   8   to keep in shape by dieting. She envies Ann who   9   slim while seeming to eat as much as she likes.

In fact, this characteristic is   10 . One morning,   11   after Don has taken the kids to school Ann   12   just as she is herself about to go work. She is   13   by her divorced mother, who stays alongside her as they rush to   14   and rush through examinations.

The doctor discovers that there are tumors （肿瘤） in both her ovaries （卵巢）.   15   can be done about the cancer. Ann   16   from the doctor that she has only two or three months to   17  .

Shaken   18   Ann is by this news, she decides not to tell her mom and husband, and to go on living as if nothing has happened.   19  in a café, Ann begins to write down all the things she   20  to do before her death:

“1．Tell my daughters several times a day that I love them;

2．Find Don a new wife who the girls like;

3．Record Birthday Messages for the girls for every year until they are 18;

4．Go to Whale bay Beach together and have a big picnic;

5．Smoke and drink as much as I want;

6．Say just what I’m thinking;

7．Go and see Dad in jail.

….”

1．A．shares                   B．spares                 C．enjoys                 D．completes

2．A．talk                       B．work                   C．affect                  D．help

3．A．ordinary                B．strange                C．special                D．perfect

4．A．although                B．until                    C．unless                 D．while

5．A．insists                   B．disagrees             C．imagines              D．hopes

6．A．his                        B．some                   C．any                     D．no

7．A．relation                 B．struggle               C．difference            D．fight

8．A．desire                   B．difficulty             C．design                 D．delight

9．A．shocks                  B．remains               C．realizes                D．becomes

10．A．abstract               B．attractive             C．abnormal             D．absolute

11．A．only                    B．even                    C．ever                    D．just

12．A．blacks out           B．turns out             C．makes out           D．comes out

13．A．brought               B．discovered           C．taken                  D．ordered

14．A．garage                 B．college                C．school                 D．hospital

15．A．Everything           B．Something           C．Anything             D．Nothing

16．A．informs               B．learns                  C．takes                   D．tells

17．A．leave                   B．live                     C．stay                    D．die

18．A．since                   B．because               C．as                       D．for

19．A．Arriving              B．Getting                C．Finding               D．Sitting

20．A．instructs              B．supposes             C．intends                D．imagines

Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 6. Read them loud. Now look away and spend 20 seconds memorizing them in order before saying them out loud again. If you speak English, you have about a 50% chance of remembering those perfectly. If you are Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because we most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within a two-second period. And unlike English, the Chinese language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.

That example comes from Stanislas Dahaene’s book The Number Sense. As Dahaene explains: Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be spoken out in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is “si” and 7 “qi”). Their English pronunciations are longer. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length.

It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don’t. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. For numbers above 20, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), while for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.

That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to 40. American children at that age can count only to 15. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian friends in the most fundamental of math skills.

The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to change the words to numbers (37+22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation(等式) is right there, in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: it’s five-tens-nine.

When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. For years, students from China, South Korea, and Japan --- outperformed their Western classmates at mathematics, and the typical assumption is that it has something to do with a kind of Asian talent for math. The differences between the number systems in the East and the West suggest something very different --- that being good at math may also be rooted in a group’s culture.

What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. The Asian number-naming system helps grasp advanced math skills better.

B. Western culture fail to provide their children with adequate number knowledge.

C. Children in Western countries have to learn by heart the learning things.

D. Asian children’s advantage in math may be sourced from their culture.

What makes a Chinese easier to remember a list of numbers than an American?

A. Their understanding of numbers.

B. Their mother tongue.

C. Their math education.

D. Their different IQ.

Asian children can reach answers in basic math functions more quickly because ____________.

A. they pronounce the numbers in a shorter period

B. they practice math from an early age

C. English speaking children translate language into numbers first

D. American children can only count to 15 at the age of four

Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 6. Read them loud. Now look away and spend 20 seconds memorizing them in order before saying them out loud again. If you speak English, you have about a 50% chance of remembering those perfectly. If you are Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because we most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within a two-second period. And unlike English, the Chinese language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.
That example comes from Stanislas Dahaene’s book The Number Sense. As Dahaene explains: Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be spoken out in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is “si” and 7 “qi”). Their English pronunciations are longer. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length.
It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don’t. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. For numbers above 20, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), while for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.
That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to 40. American children at that age can count only to 15. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian friends in the most fundamental of math skills.
The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to change the words to numbers (37+22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation(等式) is right there, in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: it’s five-tens-nine.
When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. For years, students from China, South Korea, and Japan --- outperformed their Western classmates at mathematics, and the typical assumption is that it has something to do with a kind of Asian talent for math. The differences between the number systems in the East and the West suggest something very different --- that being good at math may also be rooted in a group’s culture.
【小题1】What does the passage mainly talk about?

Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 6. Read them loud. Now look away and spend 20 seconds memorizing them in order before saying them out loud again. If you speak English, you have about a 50% chance of remembering those perfectly. If you are Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because we most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within a two-second period. And unlike English, the Chinese language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.

That example comes from Stanislas Dahaene’s book The Number Sense. As Dahaene explains: Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be spoken out in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is “si” and 7 “qi”). Their English pronunciations are longer. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length.

It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don’t. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. For numbers above 20, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), while for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.

That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to 40. American children at that age can count only to 15. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian friends in the most fundamental of math skills.

The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to change the words to numbers (37+22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation(等式) is right there, in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: it’s five-tens-nine.

When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. For years, students from China, South Korea, and Japan --- outperformed their Western classmates at mathematics, and the typical assumption is that it has something to do with a kind of Asian talent for math. The differences between the number systems in the East and the West suggest something very different --- that being good at math may also be rooted in a group’s culture.

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. The Asian number-naming system helps grasp advanced math skills better.

B. Western culture fail to provide their children with adequate number knowledge.

C. Children in Western countries have to learn by heart the learning things.

D. Asian children’s advantage in math may be sourced from their culture.

2.What makes a Chinese easier to remember a list of numbers than an American?

A. Their understanding of numbers.

B. Their mother tongue.

C. Their math education.

D. Their different IQ.

3.Asian children can reach answers in basic math functions more quickly because ____________.

A. they pronounce the numbers in a shorter period

B. they practice math from an early age

C. English speaking children translate language into numbers first

D. American children can only count to 15 at the age of four

Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 6. Read them loud. Now look away and spend 20 seconds memorizing them in order before saying them out loud again. If you speak English, you have about a 50% chance of remembering those perfectly. If you are Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because we most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within a two-second period. And unlike English, the Chinese language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.
That example comes from Stanislas Dahaene’s book The Number Sense. As Dahaene explains: Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be spoken out in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is “si” and 7 “qi”). Their English pronunciations are longer. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length.
It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don’t. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. For numbers above 20, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), while for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.
That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to 40. American children at that age can count only to 15. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian friends in the most fundamental of math skills.
The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to change the words to numbers (37+22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation(等式) is right there, in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: it’s five-tens-nine.
When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. For years, students from China, South Korea, and Japan --- outperformed their Western classmates at mathematics, and the typical assumption is that it has something to do with a kind of Asian talent for math. The differences between the number systems in the East and the West suggest something very different --- that being good at math may also be rooted in a group’s culture.

1. 1.

   What does the passage mainly talk about?

   1. A.
      The Asian number-naming system helps grasp advanced math skills better.
   2. B.
      Western culture fail to provide their children with adequate number knowledge.
   3. C.
      Children in Western countries have to learn by heart the learning things.
   4. D.
      Asian children’s advantage in math may be sourced from their culture.
2. 2.

   What makes a Chinese easier to remember a list of numbers than an American?

   1. A.
      Their understanding of numbers.
   2. B.
      Their mother tongue.
   3. C.
      Their math education.
   4. D.
      Their different IQ.
3. 3.

   Asian children can reach answers in basic math functions more quickly because ____________.

   1. A.
      they pronounce the numbers in a shorter period
   2. B.
      they practice math from an early age
   3. C.
      English speaking children translate language into numbers first
   4. D.
      American children can only count to 15 at the age of four