It’s puzzling, isn’t it? No matter where you try to tickle（使人发痒）yourself, even on the soles（脚底） of your feet or under your arms, you just can’t.
To understand why, you need to know more about how your brain works. One of its main tasks is to try to make good guesses about what’s going to happen next. While you’re busy getting on with your life, walking downstairs or eating your breakfast, parts of your brain are always trying to predict the future.
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle? At first, it took a lot of concentration to keep the handlebars steady and push the pedals（踏板）. But after a while, cycling became easy. Now you’re not aware of the movements you make to keep the bike going. From experience, your brain knows exactly what to expect so your body rides the bike automatically. Your brain is predicting all the movements you need to make.
You only have to think consciously about cycling if something changes---like if there’s a strong wind or you get a flat tyre. When something unexpected happens like this, your brain is forced to change its predictions about what will happen next. If it does its job well, you’ll adjust to the strong wind, leaning your body so you don’t fall.
Why is it so important for our brains to predict what will happen next? It helps us make fewer mistakes and can even save our lives. For example, when a chief fireman sees a fire, he immediately makes decisions about how best to position his men. His past experiences help him foresee what might happen and choose the best plan for fighting the fire. His brain can instantly predict how different plans would work out, and he can rule out any bad or dangerous plans without putting his men at risk in real life.
So how does all this answer your question about tickling? Because your brain is always predicting your own actions, and how your body will feel as a result, you cannot tickle yourself. Other people can tickle you because they can surprise you. You can’t predict what their tickling actions will be.
1.What is the best title for this passage?
A. How Does the Brain work?
B. Why Can’t I Tickle Myself?
C. The importance of Prediction
D. The Importance of Our Brains
2.Our brains cannot predict what will happen when we______.
A.walk down the stairs
B.eat our breakfast
C. suddenly lose our balance and fall
D. ride a bike
3.The phrase “rule out” in Paragraph 4 means______.
A. decide that something is not suitable B. think about
C. act according to the rules D. expect
4.The passage is probably taken from______.
A. a scientific report for experts
B. a textbook for medical students
C. a book for children
D.a research paper for doctors
When you are invited to attend a party in the West, the first important thing you need to know is that you should arrive late.
It is a great embarrassment to arrive at a party early or even on time. Therefore, unless you are the host of the party, you never want to be the first person present at a party. Why? Because others may think that you have no life or nothing better to do than wait for a party to start. Many people try to project（展现）an image（形象）of always being busy, which, whether true or not, has something to do with success. So, by arriving late, you are implying: “I live a full life and it's really exciting.”
Therefore, an 8 o'clock party usually doesn't really start until maybe 9 o'clock, as everyone wants to be thought of as a busy and important person with lots of things to do. In other words, a party is one of those rare occasions（极少数场合）in which your punctuality can actually hurt you. It's quite a strange thing, isn't it? Anyhow, remember to be late!
1.The passage is most likely to have been taken from a book about______.
A.life in the West B. health and medicine
C. politics in the West D. behavioral science
2.What is the reason that people want to be late for parties?
A.They are not the host of the party.
B. They are too busy to arrive on time.
C. They want others to think they are busy.
D. They don’t want to wait for a party to start.
3.What does the word "punctuality" in the last paragraph mean?
A.Being polite B. Being late
C. Being smart D. Being on time
4.We can infer from the passage that______.
A.Sometimes people pretend to be what they want to be.
B.Lateness is not a problem when you are attending a meeting.
C.You need to be late on every occasion.
D. Going to a party can be a waste of time.
Absence
If a student is absent, parents are asked to contact the school and report that absence. Simply ring the school and you will be directed to the absence phone system. You should then give the name of the student and their tutor teacher.
Attendance
School hours are 08:35 to 15:00. If a student is late, they must sign in at the Student Office.
School times are as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
08:35 - 09:35 Period 1
09:35 - 10:35 Period 2
10:35 - 10:50 Tutor Time
10:50 - 11:10 Interval
11:10 - 12:05 Period 3
12:05 - 13:00 Period 4
13:00 - 13.45 Lunch
13:45 - 14:05 School-wide reading
14:05 - 15:00 Period 5
Wednesday Only
09:00 - 09:55 Period 1
09:55 - 10:50 Period 2
Rest of the times are the same as for the other days.
Cellphones
The current cell phone policy is that, although permitted at school, they must not be used or turned on during class time.
1.If a student is absent, ______ should call the school and report the absence.
the student’s parents B. the student himself
C. the student’s tutor D. the student’s teacher
2.The school doesn’t have Tutor Time ______.
A. on Monday and Friday B. on Tuesday
C. on Thursday D. on Wednesday
3.Students can use their cell phones at ______ every day.
A.09:00 B. 10:00
C. 11:00 D. 12:00
4.Which of the following is true?
A.When you report an absence, you speak directly to the Student Office.
B.You are not late if you go to your classroom at 8 o’clock on Thursday.
C.You must ring the school if you are late.
D.Wednesday afternoon is free.
Children start out as scientists, eager to look into the world around them. them enjoy science can be ; there's no need for scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children's interests.
Firstly, listen to their questions. I once a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me "textbook questions" about schooling, salary and my job. When I answering, I said, " we're finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science ?" After a long , a boy his hand, "Have you ever seen a grasshopper（蚱蜢） ？When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why ?" This began a set of questions that nearly two hours.
Secondly, give them time to think. After asking a question, teachers often wait only one or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When teachers their "wait time" to three seconds or more, children usually give better answers.
Thirdly, watch your language. When children are having a science discussion, don't jump in with "That's right" or "Very good" because these may make the children think that discussion is over. , keep things going by saying, "I'd never thought of it that way before", or coming up with more questions or ideas.
Never a child to "think". It doesn't make sense, because children are always thinking without your telling them to. What's more, this can turn a conversation a performance.
, show in stead of telling. Let children look at their fingers through a magnifying glass（放大镜）, they'll understand why you want them to before dinner. Rather than say that water evaporates（蒸发）, set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level .
1.A. real B. great C. natural D. poor
2.A. Having B. Teaching C. Making D. Helping
3.A. easy B. difficult C. useful D. useless
4.A. found B. visited C. passed D. attended
5.A. tried B. remembered C. began D. finished
6.A. Because B. After C. If D. Now that
7.A. stay B. pause C. stop D. rest
8.A. showed B. clapped C. raised D. shook
9.A. eat B. fly C. jump D. run
10.A. took B. needed C. lasted D. spent
11.A. second B. minute C. hour D. time
12.A. give B. decrease C. increase D. control
13.A. rewards B. sayings C. languages D. words
14.A. Actually B. Finally C. As a result D. Instead
15.A. push B.expect C. ask D. teach
16.A. on B. in C. onto D. into
17.A. Lastly B. As a result C. In the end D. Eventually
18.A. because B. if C. so that D. since
19.A. answer B. wash C. tell D. show
20.A. boil B. go C. drop D. disappear
We have been friends ever________ we were at school together.
A.before B. since
C. after D. while
When ________ by a CCTV reporter how he felt about his failure in the match, he simply said he would be back.
A.ask B. asking
C. to ask D. asked
