听力原文: If you are like most people, your intelligence varies from season to season. You are probably a lot sharper in the spring than you are at any other time of the year.
A noted scientist, Ellsworth Huntington, concluded from other men's work and his own among people that different climate and temperature have a definite effect on our mental abilities.
He found that cool weather is much more favorable for creative thinking than is summer heat. This does not mean that all people are less intelligent in summer than they are during the rest of the year. it does mean, however, that the mental abilities of large numbers of people tend to be lowest in summer.
Spring appears to be the best period of the year for thinking. One reason may be that in the spring man's mental abilities are affected by the same factors that bring about great changes in all nature.
Fall is the next best season, then winter. As for summer, it seems to be a good time to take a long vacation from thinking.
(34)
A. Seasonal variations in nature.
B. How intelligence changes with the change of seasons.
C. How we can improve our intelligence.
D. Why summer is the best season for vacation.
听力原文:W:I'm afraid we are going to miss the 4-o'clock flight.
M:Don't worry. We can get our tickets changed for this evening.
Q:What does the mall suggest they should do?
(14)
A. Check the timetable.
B. Set off earlier.
C. Get on a later flight.
D. Cancel the trip.
听力原文:M: So, Susan, do you have anything planned for this Saturday?
W: Uh, I'm kind of busy. Why do you ask?
M: Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to get together and do something, like watch a movie or take a walk down by the lake.
W: I'd love to, but I'm really going to be busy all day on Saturday.
M: What do you have to do on that day?
W: [19]First, my mom asked me to help clean the house in the morning, and then I have a dentist appointment at 12:30. I can't miss that cause I've canceled twice before.
M: Well, what about after that?
W: Well, I'm going to be running around all day. After the dentist appointment, [20]I need to meet Julie at 2:00 to help her with her science project that's due on Monday morning at school.
M: Okay, but are you free after that?
W: Hardly. Then I have to pick up my brother from soccer practice at 4.:30, and my mom asked me to cook dinner for the family at 5:30. [21]I feel like a slave sometimes. Then, I have to clean the dishes and finish reading my history assignment. Who knows how long that'll take?
M: Wow, sounds like you're going to have a full day. Hey, listen, why don't I come over later in the evening, and we can make some popcorn and watch a movie.
W: Oh, that'd be great, [22]but our video machine is broken.
M: Huh. Well, let's just play a game or something.
W: Sounds good, but give me a call before you come. My mom might try to come up with something else for meto do.
(23)
A. Walk the dog.
B. Clean the house.
C. Go to the doctor's.
D. Finish her assignment.
Raising Wise Consumers
Almost anyone with a profit motive is marketing to innocents. Help your kids understand it's OK not to have it all. Here are five strategies for raising wise consumers.
1. Lead by example
While you may know that TV commercials stimulate desire for consumer goods, you'll have a hard time selling your kids o, the virtues of turning off the tube if you structure your own days around the latest sitcom (情景喜剧) or reality show.
The same principle applies to money matters. It does no good to lecture your kids about spending, saving and sharing when doing out their pocket money if you spend every free weekend afternoon at the mall. If you suspect your own spending habits are out of whack (不正常), consider what financial advisor Nathan Dungan says in his book Wasteful Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's A TM. "In teaching your child about money, few issues are as critical as your own regular consumer decisions," he writes. "In the coming weeks, challenge yourself to say no to your own wants and to opt for less expensive options."
2. Encourage critical thinking
With children under six or seven, start by telling them, "Don't believe everything you see," says Linda Millar, vice-president of Education for Concerned Children's Advertisers, a nonprofit group of 26 Canadian companies helping children and their families by media--and life--wise. Show them examples of false or exaggerated advertising claims, such as a breakfast cereal (谷类) making you bigger and stronger.
Shaft Graydon, a media educator and past president of MediaWatch, suggests introducing children to the "marketing that doesn't show"--the mascots (吉祥物) and web-sites that strengthen brand loyalty, the trading toys that cause must-have-it fever and the celebrity endorsements (签名,认可). "Explain that advertisers pay millions of dollars for celebrities to endorse a product, and that the people who buy the product end up sharing the cost," she says.
3. Supervise with sensitivity
According to a survey conducted by the Media Awareness Network in 2001, nearly 70 per cent of children say parents never sit with them while they surf the Net and more than half say parents never check where they've been online. Tile states for TV habits paint a similar picture. A 2003 Canadian Teachers' Federation study of children's media habits found that roughly 30 per cent of children in Years Three to Six claim that no adult has input into their selection of TV shows; by Year Eight, the figure rises to about 60 per cent.
"Research suggests that kids benefit more from having parents watch with them than having their viewing time limited," says Graydon, noting that many children have TV sets in their bedrooms, which effectively free them from parental supervision. And what exactly does "supervision" mean? "Rather than ridiculing your child's favorite show, game or web-site, which will only create distance between you, you can explain why certain media messages conflict with the values you'd like to develop in your child," Graydon says.
If you're put off by coarse language in a TV show, tell your child that hearing such language sends the (false) message that this is the way most people communicate when under stress. If violence in a computer game disturbs you, point out that a steady diet of onscreen violence can weaken sensitivity towards real-life violence. "And when you do watch a show together," adds Graydon, "discuss some of the hidden messages, both good and bad."
4. Say no without guilt
I'm not proud to admit it, but when Tara asked me if I could take her shopping, I ended up saying yes. More precisely, I told her that if she continued to work hard and do well in school, I would take her over the school holidays.
A. Y
B. N
C. NG