Dyslexia（失讀癥）is a learning disorder, it interferes with the ability to recognise words, and for some readers to understand what they have read.
Experts say dyslexia affects about five to ten percent of the population of the United State. Researchers have long known that people with dyslexia write or read words and letters backwards in the wrong order.
But a new study shows that people with dyslexia may have trouble redirecting（重新傳入） their attention between senses, from seeing something to hearing something. The study suggests something that might help dyslexic people learn more quickly - play video games.
Vanessa Harrar of Britain's University of Oxford led the study. She reported the findings in the journal Current Biology. The study suggests that dyslexic people may have trouble moving quickly from what they read to what they hear. Doctor Harrar calls this a "sluggish shifting of attention across the senses."
"So, if you are trying to read something and then trying to listen to somebody who's reading aloud and you're trying to follow along with what they are reading -- they have to switch their attention from hearing what they are saying to looking at the piece of paper and back again. So we found they have quite sluggish shifting of attention across the senses," said Harrar.
In the study, Doctor Harrar tested 17 people with dyslexia, and 19 others without reading problems. The volunteers were asked to push a button as quickly as possible when they heard a sound, saw a light or experienced both together. Doctor Harrar compared the speed of their reactions.
She found that people with dyslexia were just as fast as the others when they saw only a picture or heard only a sound. But the dyslexics had a slower reaction time when they heard a sound and saw a picture at the same time.
Doctor Harrar feels like playing action video games could help dyslexic people shift from seeing to hearing more quickly. She adds that images in video games force the eyes to move and focus quickly.
"Video game types of things pop out of here and there, they move your eyes around the screen quite quickly in response to things quite quickly, and the more you play a video game the faster you get that kind of thing. So, the video game is really training the attention system to move quickly," said Harrar.
The study also shows that dyslexic people have the most difficulty going between what they saw and what they heard, this may have an effect on how dyslexic children are taught how to read.
When children learn the alphabet，they usually see the letter first and then hear the sound, or they see and hear the letter at the same time. The study shows that dyslexics might learn more quickly if they hear the sound of a letter or word first before seeing it.
小題1:What is the main idea of the passage？

A．Video Games are good for children.

B．Study Suggests Video Games Might Help Dyslexics

C．A study about Video Games is being carried out.

D．Children with Dyslexics can learn better by playing video games.

小題2:People with Dyslexia have the following problems except_________.

A．writing or reading words and letters backwards in the wrong order.

B．redirecting their attention between senses, from seeing something to hearing something.

C．moving quickly from what they read to what they hear.

D．seeing a picture or hearing a sound.

小題3:What does the underlined word“sluggish”in Paragragh 4 mean？

A．slow

B．wrong

C．specific

D．a(chǎn)ccurate

小題4:Why can playing video games help dyslexic people learn more quickly?

A．While playing video games, people will train their reading and hearing.

B．While playing video games, people will have a good knowledge of the system.

C．While playing video games, people should move their eyes around the screen quite quickly train the attention system to move quickly.

D．Video games can arouse their interest in reading.

小題5:What is the importance of the finding?

A．The finding will prove video games are not necessarily bad for children.

B．People with Dyslexia will be cured by playing video games.

C．People with Dyslexia will not be made fun of by others.

D．The finding may have an effect on the way to teach dyslexic children how to read.

Read a lot, I mean a lot! You have to increase your ability for reading. Many students are in the habit of reading only when their exams are approaching while some others read only what they are taught or things that must be read because it is in their curriculum. But listen to me now, I am telling you from my own experience that it is a very bad habit and it is not enough to improve your intelligence.
You have to learn and get ready to become versatile in your reading. The fact that you are studying medicine in school does not mean that you should not know one or two things on politics.
Many people have complained to me that they find it hard to read stuffs like novels but I just shake my head in pity for them because it is obvious they have failed to realize the truth in that wise saying by Margaret Fuller that “today a READER, tomorrow a LEADER!”
When you read, you get to “see” so many places and it will be as if you have visited those places in real life. This is because reading will improve your imagination and creativity and understanding. You also get experience from learning about how people dealt with their various problems thereby saving you from going through the pains and difficulties they must have gone through!
Reading will also help you in improving your vocabulary because you will certainly start coming across so many new words which you will try as much as possible to get accustomed to with the help of the dictionary! The good thing about increasing your vocabulary is that it will also improve your thinking ability. After all, we think in words and the more words you know, the easier it will become for you to express yourself or your thoughts.
And when you read, make sure you read so wide because the more you read, the more you know and the more you know the more intelligent you can become.
小題1:According to the author, what should students do in terms of reading?

A．They needn’t read unless the exams come.

B．They should read books about intelligence.

C．They must read about politics when their major is medicine.

D．They should read as wide as possible.

小題2:The underlined word “versatile” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _____.

A．interested

B．many-sided

C．content

D．confident

小題3:What is the best title for the passage?

A．Increase your ability for reading

B．Read wide and improve your vocabulary

C．Reading improves your intelligence

D．Reading makes you a leader tomorrow

小題4:What is the benefit of knowing more words?

A．You will get used to referring to the dictionary when meeting with new words.

B．You will have less difficulty expressing your opinions.

C．Vocabulary will improve your creativity.

D．You can pass your exams with ease.

Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don’t. With help from their parents, children can learn techniques(技巧) to improve their reading skills.
“A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them,” Donna George said. “They are sadly mistaken.”
George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable(有價值的) thing parents can do. “It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are,” George said. “Parents are their child’s first teacher.” Parents help their children build listening, phonics(拼讀法), comprehension(閱讀理解) and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.
Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy----television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joiners said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a distraction. So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.
Parents who do not read themselves should not depend on their children being enthusiastic about it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents’ job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important.
小題1:The underlined word “distraction” means something that     .

A．can improve children’s reading.

B．can make children interested

C．can make children not pay their attention

D．can help children’s right way of reading

小題2:In the fourth paragraph     is the most important.

A．reading speed	B．reading environment
C．reading skills	D．reading materials

小題3:If the passage is not completed, what will be written after the passage?

A．What TV programs children can watch during reading.

B．Advice is given to control their children.

C．Parents choose reading materials for their children.

D．How children improve their reading by themselves.

小題4:Which one would be the best title for the passage?

A．Parents Are Their Child’s First Teacher.

B．How to Improve Children’s Reading Ability.

C．Children Spend More Time Reading with Parents.

D．How Parents Make Their Child a Better Reader.

How the Grand Canyon (大峽谷) was created remains one of the geology’s greatest mysteries. Some evidence suggests that the process was a gradual one in which the Colorado River (which runs through the canyon) slowly cut deeper and deeper into the ground over millions of years. But volcanic rock samples taken from the canyon now suggest that the canyon was down-cut instead.
Down-cutting is when a flood of water rushes over a landscape (地形) with enough force to cut deeply into the ground and leaves behind a canyon. Such a flood is usually released when a natural or man-made dam (堤壩) bursts.
Robert Webb, a research geologist, says natural dams seem to have formed and broken across the Colorado River several times during the last million years. The dams were built when lava(熔巖) from the eruptions of nearby volcanoes flowed into the river. The lava hardened into hard rocks and blocked the river, causing it to back up and form a lake. Each time the lake grew so huge that it broke the rock dam, releasing a flash flood that furthered the down-cutting process and deepened the canyon.
Down-cutting is not just an earthly event. Satellite photos sent back from Mars suggest that the process has happened there, too, say many other researchers.
The photos, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor, indicate that an enormous lake existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago. The lake spilled into a large nearby hole. One edge of the hole broke, releasing a flash flood that quickly carved out a grand canyon.
The existence of down-cutting on Mars is just one more piece of evidence that the cold, dry planet was once warm and wet.
小題1:In the past, deep canyons were believed to have formed _______.

A．a(chǎn)s a result of a sudden break of volcanoes

B．due to river flows over millions of years

C．owing to the burst of artificial dams

D．thanks to our ancestors’ creative work

小題2:According to the passage, which of the following statements is TURE?

A．Several volcanoes broke out on Mars directly creating grand canyons.

B．Several great lakes existed on the upper parts of the Colorado River.

C．People built high dams on the upper parts of the Colorado River.

D．The Colorado River crossed the Grand Canyon to form down-cutting.

小題3:From the last three paragraphs we learn that _______.

A．there are great lakes on Mars

B．there are active volcanoes on Mars

C．there might be cities on Mars

D．there might be life on Mars

小題4:The passage can be titled as _______.

A．Lakes on Earth and Mars

B．The Cause of Lake Formation

C．The Force of Dam Breaking

D．Canyons—Results of Flood Cutting

Is the ‘Go to College’ Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16-24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists cautions that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two avenues for improving the situation: increasing vocational(職業(yè)的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(資助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.
小題1:People usually think that _____.

A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem

B．one will not succeed without a college degree

C．technical skills are most important for landing a job

D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college

小題2:What does the underlined part “taking a page from” mean?

A．Hearing from.	B．Changing from.
C．Differing from.	D．Learning from.

小題3:What can we infer from the passage?

A．Public institutions charge more for education.

B．European universities are stricter with students.

C．Students with certain skills are in great demand.

D．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering.

小題4:Ms. Sawhill may probably agree that _____.

A．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees

B．technical training is more important than college education

C．a(chǎn) college degree will ensure promising employment

D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs

It’s five minutes before the exam and you are in a state of panic. You just have to pass it, but how? You didn’t even open the book the night before and you hear a voice in your head saying “Cheat, cheat ...” So what are you going to do, ignore it and fail or go for it? It’s a tough decision many students must make.
Most young people believe that cheating is wrong. However, they have cheated at least once in their high school years. So, why do they do it? Are they too lazy to study? Perhaps, it’s not as simple as that. According to some experts, one main reason why students cheat is that they see their friends get away with it. It’s an easy way out. They avoid embarrassment and their parents’ anger for not doing well in an exam. Another reason is that students think it’s OK to cheat if the subject isn’t important for their future career. What’s more, most students have to put up with the pressure of getting into university. They need to get good marks to carry on with their studies. This means that there will always be students who will do anything for a better mark.
It has never been easier to cheat than it is today. With all the technology available, students needn’t cheat by looking over their shoulders anymore. They use mobile phones to send answers to each other during a test. There is also the Internet. With hundreds of websites, students don’t have to worry because they can find lots of material which they can copy and use in projects. There are even tips on the art of cheating in exams.
Obviously, if you get caught cheating, you fail the exam or the subject. But it doesn’t really matter whether you get caught or not. What’s important is that it’s wrong. You mustn’t cheat because cheating is a lie. It deceives (欺騙) people into thinking you know more than you actually do. How can you be proud of something you have achieved through cheating? In the end, it’s not about deceiving your teachers and your parents, but about fooling yourself that you can do something you really can’t.
小題1:The tough decision that many students have to make before an exam is         .

A．whether to cheat or not	B．what to do if they fail
C．how to cheat	D．how to keep calm

小題2:According to the experts, why do some students cheat?

A．The subjects are important for their future.	B．They are too lazy to study.
C．Cheating can help them please their parents.	D．Their friends ask them to cheat.

小題3:The worst thing about cheating is that         .

A．you cheat others and yourself

B．you can get caught and fail

C．you give others a bad impression

D．your teacher will inform your parents

小題4:Which sentence best summarizes the whole text?

A．Cheating can be explained but not excused.

B．Technology has made cheating easier.

C．Students cheat to get into university.

D．Cheating is a social and psychological problem.

As a professor I have grown accustomed to the opinion regarding American education. We are repeatedly told that American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.
There are, of course, problems with the education system. Because of economic inequality some schools are significantly better than others and the ideas of equality of education and equality of opportunity are cruel jokes. However, the mere fact that there are some serious problems does not mean that all the dire claims are true.
One stock (陳腐的) claim is that America has fallen behind the world in education in terms of performance on various tests. While the fact that America is behind other countries is a point of concern, there are at least three points worth considering here. The first is the above-mentioned economic inequality which will tend to result in poorer performance when taking the average for America. The second is that many countries have put considerable effort into improving their education systems and hence it is worth considering that America’s decline is also due to the improvement of others. The third is the matter of the measures— do they, in fact, present an accurate picture of the situation? I am not claiming that the data is bad. I am merely raising a reasonable concern about how accurate our picture of education is at this time.
Another stock claim is that American students are doing badly on standardized tests. While there is clearly value in assessment, it is reasonable to consider whether or not such tests are a proper and adequate measure of education. It is also worth considering whether the puzzle with these tests is itself causing damage to education. That is, as teachers teach for the test and students learn for the test, it might be the case that what is being taught is not what should be taught and what is being learned is not what should be learned.
小題1:According to the professor, many people’s attitude towards American colleges is          .

A．negative

B．positive

C．a(chǎn)pproving

D．indifferent

小題2:What does the underlined word “dire” in the second paragraph mean?

A．Exact or precise.	B．Extremely serious or terrible.
C．Fair or objective.	D．Long and boring.

小題3:Judging by the text ,the claims are centered on          .

A．what should be taught in the American classroom

B．fair judgment of American education

C．American students’ performance on tests

D．a(chǎn)n accurate picture of American colleges

小題4:The passage is written mainly to          .

A．defend American education

B．show dissatisfaction with American education

C．explain why American students do badly on tests

D．offer advice on American education reform

“Enough” with the multivitamins already. That’s the message from experts behind three new studies that tackled an often debated question: Do daily multivitamins多種維生素make you healthier?
“We believe that the case is closed - supplementing(補(bǔ)充) the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful,” concluded the authors of the editorial summarizing the new research papers. They urge consumers to not ‘waste’ their money on multivitamins. “The ‘stop wasting your money’ means that perhaps you’re spending money on things that won’t protect you long term,” editorial co-author, Dr. Edgar Miller said, “What will protect you is if you spend the money on fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, low fat dairy, and things like that. Exercising would probably be a better use of the money.”
The strong message was based on a review of the findings from three studies that tracked multivitamins link to cancer protection, heart health, and brain and cognitive(認(rèn)知的) measures. The first study looked at vitamin supplementation’s role in preventing chronic(慢性的) disease. The next study looked at whether long-term use of multivitamins would have any effect on slowing cognitive decline. The third study looked specifically at multivitamins and minerals role in preventing heart attack. “The three studies found no difference in rates of chronic disease, heart attack and the need for hospitalization between vitamin-takers and placebo(安慰劑)-takers.” Dr. Edgar Miller stated.
One expert agreed some nutrient-deficient people may still benefit from multivitamins. “There might be an argument to continue taking a multi(vitamin) to replace or supplement your not healthy diet,” Dr. Edgar Miller added. He also notes that vitamins can benefit people with celiac disease and those who are pregnant.
小題1:This text is likely to be selected from a book of           .

A．medicine

B．education

C．food

D．business

小題2:Which of the following is NOT Dr. Edgar Miller’s opinion according to the passage?

A．Vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough.

B．Having a balanced diet and exercising would probably be a better way to keep healthy.

C．The three studies do not provide support for use of multivitamin supplements.

D．Taking vitamins to replace or supplement your healthy diet is necessary.

小題3:What can be inferred from the text?

A．Vitamin supplements have proved harmful to the health of adults.

B．Vitamin supplements are beneficial in certain conditions.

C．Nowadays taking vitamin supplements is common to most people.

D．Daily multivitamins will make you healthier.

小題4:The author’s purpose of writing the text is most likely to___________.        .

A．persuade

B．describe

C．inform

D．instruct

If your dog looks pleased to see you – it is probably because it loves the particular way you smell.
The odour of a familiar human apparently lingers like perfume in the animal’s brain – where it triggers an instinctive emotional response, research published yesterday reveals.
Our scent acts on a part of the canine brain associated with reward and the strongest reactions are produced by humans that pets know best, say scientists in America.
Gregory Berns, of Emory University in Atlanta, said: ‘While we might expect that dogs should be highly tuned to the smell of other dogs, it seems that the “reward response” is reserved for their humans.
'When humans smell the perfume or cologne of someone they love, they may have an immediate, emotional reaction that's not necessarily cognitive.
'Our experiment may be showing the same process in dogs. But since dogs are so much more olfactory(嗅覺的) than humans, their responses would likely be even more powerful than the ones we might have.
'It's one thing when you come home and your dog sees you and jumps on you and licks you and knows that good things are about to happen.
'In our experiment, however, the scent donors were not physically present.
Why do animals avoid pylons? Because they emit terrifying flashes of light that are INVISIBLE to humans.
Dolphins use sponges to protect their sensitive noses while foraging for food on the sea floor
'That means the canine brain responses were being triggered by something distant in space and time. It shows that dogs' brains have these mental representations of us that persist when we're not there.'
The university’s experiment - the first of its type - involved 12 dogs of various breeds who underwent brain scans while five different scents were placed in front of them.
The scent samples came from the subject itself, a dog the subject had never met, a dog that lived in the subject's household, a human the dog had never met, and a human that lived in the subject's household.
The familiar human scent samples were taken from someone else from the house other than the handlers during the experiment, so that none of the scent donors were physically present.
The results showed that all five scents elicited a similar response in parts of the dogs' brains involved in detecting smells. Responses were significantly stronger for the scents of familiar humans, followed by that of familiar dogs.
The findings, which were published in the journal Behavioural Processes, showed that dogs reacted strongest to the scent of a familiar human even when they were not there.
Pets trained as help or therapy dogs showed greater brain activity than the other dogs in the test.
Researchers say the findings could improve the way animals who assist wounded veterans or disabled people are selected.
小題1:Why does your dog look pleased to see you ?

A．because your dog wants to play with you

B．because your dog is hungry

C．because your dog wants to attract your attention

D．because your dog loves the particular way you smell.

小題2:What’s the purpose of Emory university’s experiment ?

A．To study dog’s reaction while five different scents were placed in front of them.

B．To learn how to get along well with dogs

C．To know how to tell the difference between dogs

D．To improve the way animals who assist wounded veterans or disabled people are selected.

小題3:According to the passage, a dog will be most interested in____.

A．familiar dogs

B．a(chǎn) human the dog had never met

C．a(chǎn) dog the dog had never met

D．familiar humans

小題4:Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The dog’s olfactory responses would likely be even more powerful than the ones we might have.

B．In our experiment, the scent donors were physically present.

C．Dogs reacted strongest to the scent of a familiar human even when they were there.

D．Dog’s brain responses were not being triggered(引發(fā)) by something distant in space and time.

You might think that Western students are less shy when it comes to mingling with the opposite sex, but the truth is that pupils in the UK can feel just as awkward. Britons are actually quite reserved and being at university can make them feel out of their comfort zone. Everyone finds it difficult to talk to the other gender on campus.
However, there is a way of dealing with this shyness in Britain, and it is called “Freshers Week”. Freshers Week is designed to help people socialize and lose their inhibitions(顧慮； 抑制力). It is a one-week long party for first year students to welcome them before lectures and coursework begin.
I remember my first week at university - it was terrifying. I looked at the schedule for Freshers Week and was amazed at how much was planned. Every hall of residence organizes its own events to help students become friends with the people they live with. My hall was called “Goldney Hall” and the week ahead included a talent show, a comedy night, and themed parties, including one for which we had to dress up as golfers.
The first event I went to was a school kids party at which everyone dressed up as if they were in school. This party encouraged me to talk to all the people on my floor. One boy, who lived opposite my room, was very handsome and I felt nervous speaking to him at first. But when we met at the party dressed in silly school outfits, I remember feeling a lot more relaxed speaking to him.
It sounds strange, but drinking and dressing up seems to be how Britons overcome their shyness at university. My Freshers Week was hectic, but I managed to forget how scared I was.
One thing’s for sure: nothing helps you lose your inhibitions(顧慮； 抑制力) quite like dressing up as a golfer – complete with a golf club, checked hat and tweed jacket!
小題1:What does the underlined phrase mean in the fifthparagraph?

A．scared

B．disappointed

C．happy

D．very busy

小題2:In Britain, universities organize the “Freshers Week”to__________.

A．help the first year students to get rid of the shyness.

B．help the first year students to know about the campus.

C．intruduce the teachers to the first year students.

D．help the first year students to adapt to the campus life as soon as possible.

小題3:Which of the following statements is true according to the paragraph?

A．My first week life at university was happy.

B．The Western students also don’t know what to do when they meet the opposite sex.

C．Drinking and dressing up is how Britons overcome their scare at university.

D．Dressing up as a golfer can’t help you overcome the shyness.

小題4:What is the main idea of the paragraph?

A．My first year in the university.

B．What is the “Freshers Week”?

C．My busy first week campus life.

D．How to get rid of the first year students’ shyness.

小題5:Why did the school kids dressed up as if they were in school in the party?

A．because they felt a lot more relaxed speaking to others.

B．because they felt shy speaking to others.

C．because they felt nevous speaking to others.

D．because they felt frightened speaking to others.