Do you believe that things are connected for no scientific reason at all? For example, do you avoid saying the word “four” to avoid bad luck? If so, you have a superstition (迷信). And you’re not alone — all kinds of people have them.
For example, Portugal’s soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo always steps onto the pitch (球场) with his right foot first, according to The Telegraph. And sports players are not alone in having superstitions. A visitor once asked the Nobel Prize winning scientist Niels Bohr whether he really believed that the horseshoe he’d hung at his country home was lucky. “Of course not,” the Danish physicist said. “But I understand it’s lucky whether you believe in it or not.”
One recent study found that even scientists at MIT and other top US schools tended to look for a meaning in natural events, similar to the connection between stepping on the pitch and playing soccer well, according to The Atlantic. When the researchers gave the scientists little time to answer questions, they were twice as likely to agree with statements such as “Trees produce oxygen so that animals can breathe” as they were when they had more time to think about their reply.
It seems that fear can make people think differently in this way, too. In a British study, students imagined meeting a “witch” who said she would cast (施魔法) an evil spell(符咒) on them. About half said a scientist should not be worried about the spell. Yet each of them said that, personally, they wouldn’t let the witch do it to them.
So why are so many of us superstitious? Well, it seems to be our way of dealing with the unknown. “Many people quite simply just want to believe,” Brian Cronk, a professor of psychology at Missouri Western State University, said in a 2008 interview. “The human brain is always trying to work out why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre (古怪的) explanations.”
And these explanations aren’t completely unhelpful. In fact, superstitions can sometimes work and bring real luck, according to psychologists at the University of Cologne in Germany in the May 2010 issue of the journal Psychological Science. They found that believing in something can improve performance on a task like an exam.
So, what about you? What superstitions do you follow to keep you safe and successful?
1.The author mentions avoiding saying the word "four" in the opening paragraph to ________.
A. show how foolish it is to believe in superstitions
B. introduce the readers to the topic of superstitions
C. discuss the scientific reasons behind superstitions
D. prove that it is reasonable to be superstitious
2.How many superstitious practices are mentioned in the passage?
A. 3 B. 2 C. 4 D. 5
3.What’s the author’s attitude to superstitions?
A. Unknown. B. Positive. C. Negative. D. Neutral.
4.What is the best title of the article?
A. Why superstitions are common
B. How superstitions affect our daily lives
C. How some common superstitions came into being
D. How to get rid of superstitions
A new study says electronic toys are not helping babies learn.
"Even if companies are marketing them as educational, they're not teaching the babies anything at this time," said Anna Sosa the study's author.
Researchers listened to audio(声音的) recordings of parents playing with their babies aged 10 months to 16 months. The researchers compared the experiences when the children played with electronic toys, traditional toys such as blocks, or when the children looked at books. What they found is that parents talked less with their babies when the babies played with electronic toys.
Why is this important? Research shows that how quickly children develop language is often based on what they hear from parents. When the infants played with electronic toys, parents said little to their children. But with traditional toys, such as blocks, parents shared the names and descriptions of the animals, colors and shapes as their children played. There was even more information given by parents as their babies looked at the pictures in books.
Of course, there is no need for parents to throw out electronic toys, but they should look at their infants’ play with such toys as entertainment, not a learning experience.
Toy Industry Association spokeswoman Adrienne Appell responded to the study. She said it is important that parents make time to play with their children. "Playing is a way that kids can learn so much, not only cognitive(认知的) skills, but social and developmental skills," she said. She added that play should be balanced, including time for just "make believe" activities, as well as traditional and electronic toys.
1.What’s Anna Sosa’s attitude towards companies claiming that their toys are educational?
A. supportive B. indifferent C. uninterested D. doubtful
2.We can learn from the text that babies in the research ________.
A. liked traditional toys better than electronic toys
B. interact less with their parents when playing with electronic toys
C. talked little with their parents when playing with electronic toys
D. listened to audio recordings of their parents
3.Children develop language more quickly when their parents ________.
A. read them picture books often B. teach them how to speak
C. buy them a lot of toys D. throw away their electronic toys
4.According to Adrienne Appell, playing ________.
A. can’t take the place of learning
B. shouldn’t take most of children’s time
C. is good to children’s overall development
D. can’t develop children’s cognitive skills
最近，你校英文报在举办主题为“Exercise an hour every day，healthy life for a lifetime．”的征文活动。假定你是李华，请根据以下内容用英语写一篇短文。
1．你对征文主题的理解；2．你喜欢的运动项目及活动情况；3．该运动给你生活和学习带来的益处。
注意： 1．词数100左右；2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3．开头语已写好，不计入总词数。
Nowadays，having sports is becoming more and more popular．_____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ladies and gentlemen,
Will you help old when he/she falls down on the street? A recently survey from our class meeting shows that eighty percent of the students think they are sure to help the old because of saving life is more important as anything else. Fifteen percent of the students says whether they help or not depends on the circumstances. However, five percent hold a view which the old shouldn’t be helped. First, they lack the knowledge of first aid, not know how to deal with the situation. Second, they are afraid of getting into trouble.
In my opinion, we should help each others, especially the old people. Please remember “respect the old” is one of our best tradition. Everyone will become old, and if such a case happens to you one day when we’re old, I will say I do need your help.
Thank you.
On Sept.19, 2014, Alibaba went public on the New York Stock(股票)Exchange. It shows that Ma Yun has done his business 1. (success). A short Chinese man seems to be the 2. (tall) man in the world right now.
Ma Yun used to be an English teacher. When he was twelve, he found that English was very interesting. Every morning he got up at 5 a.m., and then ran to a hotel near the West Lake,3. he could communicate with foreign 4.(tour) in English. He did it for nine years. The experience made him a fantastic English speaker and also opened his views to the wide world. In a trip to the US in 1995, Ma had access to the Internet 5.the first time. When 6. (see) the opportunity on the Internet, Ma returned to China and decided to set up a website 7. he knew little about computers then. Ma quit(辞掉) his job and created his own company--Alibaba in Hangzhou. He was so 8. (devote) to his work that he 9. (name) “Crazy Jack Ma”. Now, Alibaba has developed into the world’s largest e-commerce company and 10. (go) even further in future.
One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor _______ the question papers, with the text facing down as usual._______ all the students got the papers, he asked them to _______ the page and begin. To everyone's surprise, there were no _______ , just a black dot (点) in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone's face, told them the following:
"I want you to write what you _______ there.”
The students,_______, got started on the inexplicable (令人费解的) task.
At the end of the class, the professor _______ all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no _______, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been _______, the classroom was silent, the professor began to explain:
"I'm not going to grade this. I ________ wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the ________ part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same happens in our ________. We have a white paper to observe and ________, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a ________ given to us with love and care and we always have ________ to celebrate: nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that ________ our livelihood and the miracles we see every day.
________, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots: the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the ________ relationship with colleagues(同事), the ________ with a friend, and etc.
The dark spots are very ________ compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. "
1.A. pointed at B. turned up C. referred to D. handed out
2.A. Since B. After C. While D. Until
3.A. fold B. open C. turn D. use
4.A. questions B. choices C. exercises D. scores
5.A. remember B. imagine C. see D. study
6.A. confused B. frustrated C. curious D. serious
7.A. finished B. collected C. marked D. selected
8.A. excuse B. doubt C. explanation D. exception
9.A. read B. said C. returned D. answered
10.A. also B. even C. just D. finally
11.A. big B. black C. white D. beautiful
12.A. studies B. classrooms C. colleges D. lives
13.A. send B. enjoy C. keep D. show
14.A. present B. burden C. pressure D. lesson
15.A. festivals B. time C. freedom D. reasons
16.A. threatens B. provides C. ruins D. changes
17.A. Besides B. Therefore C. However D. Moreover
18.A. close B. strong C. special D. complex
19.A. disappointment B. contact C. satisfaction D. stay
20.A. dark B. small C. round D. dirty
