As a music teacher for twenty-seven years I have always known that music touches the soul. It can break through all kinds of barriers to reach students in a very special way. It can be the means for each child to find their light.

A few years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to teach pre-school students one afternoon a week. One of my most memorable students was Vanessa. She was five years old, had difficulty walking and could not speak. We mostly sat on the floor for our music lessons and Vanessa liked to sit on my lap. One of her favorite songs was John the Rabbit. It was a call and response song where I sang the call and the students clapped two times while singing the repeating phrase “Oh yes!” Vanessa liked to put her hands together with mine and clap with me. We performed that song during every class Vanessa and I clapped together. She never said or sang a word.

One day late in the school year when the song was finished Vanessa turned around, looked at me in the eye, clapped her tiny hands two times and said the words “Oh yes!” I opened my mouth and could not speak. Through music we had made a connection.

Several years later I came across Vanessa on the street in town. I stopped my car and waved to say hello. She waved back with a big smile on her face and then clapped her hands two times mimicking the song we had performed in our music class. This precious little girl through her connection with music left an impression on me that will last forever.

Every child has the ability to learn and grow. It is up to us educators to discover the way to reach each and every one of our students. We all must find each child’s light.

1.The author thinks music__________.

A．can make children calm down              B．can connect heart to heart

C．is difficult for pre-school students           D．is a good means to find a job

2.According to the second paragraph Vanessa_________.

A．got used to singing songs                  B．was too shy to speak

C．was the youngest in the class               D．enjoyed the author’s class

3.When Vanessa spoke the words “Oh yes!” the author felt________.

A．surprised         B．happy            C．frightened         D．satisfied

4.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A．The author has been in touch with Vanessa for several years.

B．Vanessa became as healthy as other children.

C．The song made a deep impression on Vanessa.

D．Being a good educator became Vanessa’s dream.

 

Tony Buzan’s grades were going down at university. Disappointed with his low marks, he went to the library to find a book on how to use his brain. He was directed to the medical section. Confused, he said to the librarian, “I don’t want to take my brain out, I just want to learn how to use it.” Her reply was simple: “There’s no book on that.”
“I thought to myself,” says Buzan, “if I buy a little radio, I get an instruction manual (說明書). If I buy a microwave, I get an instruction manual. But for the most important machine in the world, no instruction manual?”
Fifty years later, Buzan has become the world’s leading speaker on the brain and learning. In the late 1960s, he invented the mind map, a visual representation of thought processes.
This kind of thinking has become a popular tool for planning, organizing, problem solving, and communicating across the world. He has since authored and co-authored over 100 books that have appeared in more than 30 languages.
“I think in most cases, people use less than 1 percent of their brains,” he says.
But how do you expand this 1 percent? How do you become the best student you can be?
According to Buzan, the answer is simple. You take a section of whatever it is that you are trying to learn, he says, and you read it for its essence (精髓、要素). Then you make a mind map of all the important details. For a truly effective mind map, you start with a colored image in the center of your page. Draw the first image that comes to mind on the topic you are mind mapping. Branch off from your central image and create one of your main ideas. From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-branches you can draw even more branches. He emphasizes that you should use plenty of images and colors as these help with memory recall and encourage creativity.
By using this visual format (形式), according to Buzan, your mind will begin to make associations that will help you remember more information for longer periods of time.
Buzan believes that traditional note-taking methods, such as lists and summaries, do not stimulate the brain’s recall capacity or ability in the same way. Because of this, students will often find themselves locked away in their rooms for hours, trying hard to memorize separate details. Buzan believes that for a more effective and lasting way of studying, you must first understand how your brain works.
“Everyone is born smart,” he says. “You just have to learn how to learn.”
【小題1】What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?

A．To show that Tony Buzan was worried about his study.

B．To invite us to think about the importance of manuals.

C．To prove that the mind map is a useful tool for the brain.

D．To show why Tony Buzan studies the brain and learning.

【小題2】What does the word “stimulate” mean in the passage?

A．Excite.

B．Improve.

C．Encourage.

D．Affect.

【小題3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．If we learn the mind map, we will become the best student.

B．The mind map will help your brain connect separate details.

C．The mind map will be more effective if we put more details in it.

D．We will solve the problem if we make connections between ideas.

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to make the mind map?

B．Is the mind map widely used?

C．Can your memory be mapped?

D．Is the mind map helpful in thinking?

No Car Day was first started by 34 cities in France on September 22, 1998. It was started to protect the environment. By now, more than 1,000 cities around the world have had a No Car Day.
The first No Car Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001. Other cities including Taipei, Shanghai and Wuhan, also support the day.
In Beijing, more and more people are taking part in the activity. It asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. It also calls on Beijingers not to use cars on June 5th (World Environment Day). The slogan(口號) for the day is, “ If we drive for one less day, we can have one more nice day.”
So far, more than 200,000 drivers have shown their support. “We can’t control the weather, but we can choose not to drive,” said Wu Zhonghua, a car club chairman. Beijing is trying to have 238 blue sky days this year. In the first quarter of 2007, Beijing only had 52 blue sky days. This was 11 days less than the number for the same period last year. Much of the dust comes from the desert, but cars cause most of the air pollution. We must do more for No Car Day.
【小題1】No Car Day was started _______.

A．to save money	B．to control the weather
C．to make the air cleaner	D．to keep out dust from the desert

【小題2】The No Car Day activity asks Beijing drivers _______.

A．to work hard to get fewer blue sky days

B．not to work on World Environment Day

C．to ride a bike or walk instead of driving to work once a month

D．to leave their cars at home for a week each month

【小題3】When is World Environment Day?

A．On July 5th.	B．On June 5th.
C．On September 22nd.	D．On February 2nd.

【小題4】Which of the following about No Car Day is WRONG?

A．It was started in France in September, 1998.

B．It was first started in China in 2001.

C．It is supported by over 1,000 cities around the world.

D．It was first started by a car club chairman in Beijing.

【小題5】What can we infer(推斷) from the passage?

A．More and more people in Beijing are joining car clubs.

B．People will have one more World Environment Day each month.

C．More and more people won’t drive on No Car Day in Beijing.

D．The car club chairman Wu Zhonghua won’t drive any more.

For hundreds Of years, scientists have been trying to answer what things have an effect on people’s emotions (情感). How you feel is controlled by many things. Your emotions can be affected by your personality, by the actions of others and by events around you. Perhaps you don’t know your emotions can be influenced by the weather as well.
People often say they feel good when the sun is shining and sad when it is cloudy. In fact, sunlight makes us feel good. When sunlight hits our skins, our bodies produce a vitamin. Vitamins are natural chemicals (化學(xué)物質(zhì)) which we all need to stay healthy. Sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D. Vitamin D helps our bodies make a special chemical. This special chemical affects our brains (大腦) and makes us feel happy. For example, there are long, dark winters of little sunlight in Sweden and Norway, so many people in these countries often feel sad. Without much sunlight, their bodies produce less vitamin D. Without enough vitamin D, their bodies make less of this special chemical which makes them feel good. To help the people in these countries feel better, special “sunrooms” with artificial (人造的) lights have been built. People can go there and get “sunlight” for an hour or two!
The weather can also affect people’s emotions in other ways. Hot weather can make people angry because people feel uncomfortable when they are hot. In the same way, rain can make people angry because being wet can be unpleasant. As you can see, the weather can have an effect on the chemicals which control our brains. Through these ways, the weather can influence our emotions. Sadly, while the weather can change us, we can hardly change the weather.
【小題1】 Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor (因素) that can affect one’s emotions?

A．Weather.	B．Actions of others.
C．Personality.	D．Age.

【小題2】Which of the following is true about vitamin D according to the passage?

A．It is a kind of artificial chemical.

B．It makes us worried by affecting our brains.

C．It is needed by us all to keep fit.

D．It is in the sunlight.

【小題3】 What can we infer (推斷) from the passage?

A．We feel good when we are in the bright cool weather.

B．We will be happy when we are caught in the rain.

C．All people in Norway and Sweden feel sad in winter.

D．The more vitamin D you have, the happier you’ll be.

【小題4】What may be the best title for this passage?

A．Why Do We Feel Sad?

B．The Weather Influences People’s Emotions

C．People Need More Vitamin D

D．We Can Hardly Change the Weather

Some students, parents and teachers in Shanghai were surveyed last month. According to the result of the survey, the generation gap (代溝) between students and parents as well as teachers is becoming wider. Here is what they said.

   Voice of the students:

　 “Our parents hold too high expectations（期望）which put us under lots of pressure. They care too much about our lives and studies,” one student said.

“It’s impolite that some students’ parents read their children’s diaries without permission!” one student said angrily.

“Some of our teachers are so serious that we can’t make friends with them at all,” another student said sadly.

Voice of the parents:

One mother said, “After school, my daughter usually locks herself into her room and spends lots of time talking with others on the phone. And I can’t stand（忍受） her clothes and hairstyle!”

“I thought my son was doing very well in his studies. I didn’t realize I was being cheated by him until I got a call from his teacher,” said a father.

Voice of the teachers:

An English teacher said, “Today, the role of the teacher is to put knowledge into students’ brain. The power (權(quán)力) teachers have kept students away from them.”

“Some parents pay too much attention to their children’s grades instead of creating a lively and colorful environment at home,” another teacher said.

“In the past, teachers and students often played games together or talked with each other. Today, only studies and grades are talked about,” said a teacher. “A school should be a place where students can learn not only knowledge, but also how to face failure and frustration（挫折） bravely enough.” 

1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?

A. Students like telling how they feel to their classmates.

B. More and more students don’t like to be surveyed.            

C. Some parents don’t like their children’s clothes and hairstyle.

D. There has been a great distance between students and parents as well as teachers.

2.The underlined word “cheated” in the passage means ___________.

A. 欺騙          B. 批評          C. 表揚(yáng)         D. 揭露

3. What can we infer (推斷) from the teachers who were surveyed?

A. Teachers feel what they are doing for students is good.

B. Parents, teachers and educational rules all influence students greatly.

C. Teachers should care more about excellent students.                   

D. Now teachers and students communicate better than before.

4.Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A. Unhappy Teenagers                B. Educational Rules

C. The Generation Gap                D. Serious Parents