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 handed out the question paper, with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone's surprise, there were no questions but a black dot in the center of the page. The professor seeing the expression on everyone' face, told them the following, "I want you to write what you see there."
The students were confused and got started on the inexplicable (令人不解的) task.
At the end of the class the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions, described the black dot, explained its position in the middle of the sheet, imagined what the black dot stood for and so on.
After all had been read, the classroom was silent. The professor began to explain, "I am not going to grade on you this time. I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot and the same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is filled with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate—nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the miracles we see every day…"
In fact, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots—the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend, etc. Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives, so enjoy each moment that life gives you.
One of the questions surrounding climate change is how it might affect the food supply for a growing global population. A new study suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate—how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant—will affect food production in the future. The new study focused on the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, an emerging（新兴的）global breadbasket（产粮地区）that as of 2013 supplied 10 percent of the world's soybeans. The researchers used variations in temperature and precipitation（降水）across the state over an eight-year period to estimate the sensitivity of the region's agricultural production to climate change. Those historical comparisons can help in making predictions about the sensitivity of agriculture to future climate change.
The study found that, if the patterns from 2002 to 2008 hold in the future, an increase in average temperature in Mato Grosso of just 1 degree will lead to a 9 to 13 percent reduction in overall production of soy and corn. “This is worrisome given that the temperature in the study region is predicted to rise by 2 degrees by 2050,” said Avery Cohn, who led the study.
Most studies of this kind look only at the extent to which climate shocks affect crop output. But researchers can miss critical dynamics（动力）that can affect overall output, says Leah VanWey, one of the study's senior authors. “If you look at output alone, you're not looking at all of the information because there are economic and social changes going on as well,” said VanWey.
If output decreases, farmers may put less land area into production because it's not profitable. Farmers may also vary the number of crops they plant in a growing season. Double cropping is common in Mato Grosso. But if the weather is bad, farmers may change their decision to plant a second crop.
It is believed that some of animals think a great deal. Many of them are like children in their sports. Some birds are very lively in their sports; and the same is true with some insects. The ants, hardworking as they are, have their times for play. They run races; they wrestle; and sometimes they have mock fights together. Very busy must be their thoughts while engaged in these sports.
Animals think much while building their houses. The bird searches for what it can use in building its nest, and in doing this it thinks. The beavers think as they build their dams and their houses. They think in getting their materials, and also in arranging them, and in plastering them together with mud. Some spiders build houses which could scarcely have been made except by some thinking creature.
As animals think, they learn. Some learn more than others. The parrot learns to talk, though in some other respects it is quite stupid. The mocking bird learns to imitate a great many different sounds. The shepherd dog does not know as much about most things as some other dogs, and yet he understands very well how to take care of sheep.
Though animals think and learn, they do not make any real improvement in their ways of doing things, as men do. Each kind of bird has its own way of building a nest, and it is always the same way. They have no new fashions, and learn none from each other.
It is plain that, while animals learn about things by their senses as we do, they do not think nearly as much about what they learn, and this is the reason why they do not improve more rapidly. Even the wisest of them, as the elephant and the dog, do not think very much about what they see and hear. Nor is this all. There are some things that we understand, but about which animals know nothing. They have no knowledge of anything that happens outside of their own observation. Their minds are so much unlike ours that they do not know the difference between right and wrong.
If you stayed up or had a bad night of sleep last night, you know it's difficult to stay awake in class today. Your teacher's voice might begin to sound like a lullaby（催眠曲）.To keep yourself awake, some tips are worth trying in class.
Sit in the front of the room. Why? Besides, it'll be easier to pay attention and participate when you're in the front. You'll also be near the people who are more likely to participate, and the sound of their voices might keep you awake.
Ask and answer questions and pay attention to the lecture. This will help if you're tired or discouraged by the content of the lecture, because you can ask your teacher questions to get to the bottom of the problems. Talking will also keep you engaged and alert. It might be helpful to make a goal for yourself to answer or ask at least 3 questions per class. For example, you might say “I didn't understand the last part of the proof. Could you explain it again in more detail?”
Listen actively to the lesson. Active listening is a great way to force yourself to stay awake because it requires engagement of your mind as well as your body. To effectively listen to your teacher, you should try to maintain eye contact, face the speaker, pay close attention to what the speaker is saying and ask questions during a pause in the lecture.
A. Participate in class activities.
B. Develop interest in the subject.
C. If so, classrooms can be boring because you're tired.
D. Keep silent all the time and try to catch as much information as possible.
E. To avoid annoying your teacher you should try to keep your questions on topic.
F. You'll be more motivated to stay awake if you know that the teacher can see you easily.
G. Practicing active listening can help you keep your eyes open for the length of the lesson.
I, a postman, married Kathy twenty-eight years ago. Our marriage life was filled with quarrels, swearing, throwing pots…—it was too much like 1. So I had an idea that our time as husband and 2 was about up but I didn't expect it would 3 with a fight.
We were 4 at home one evening after tea, one at each end of the table. I was 5a book, and Kathy just sat there. 6 she said, "I do love you, Harry." I was still in the book and said 7.
Then, "Harry, look at me." My 8 came up, smiled and went down again to my reading. Maybe I was in the wrong, and should have said something, 9 the book was too good.
"I'm sure all that reading's bad 10 your eyes," she commented. I went on reading, not looking up. She added, "My dad used to say that only fools read books."
The words 11 me and I couldn't resist replying, "He only said that because he didn't know how to read. He was 12."
Kathy never read books. She hated 13 like poison. She sneered(冷笑), "No need to be jealous of you. We've got more sense, and too much to do."
Then I was upset, but in a 14 way, "Let me read, anyway, won't you? It's an interesting book, and I'm tired."
She 15 out loud, "Tired? You ought to do some real work for a change instead of 16the streets with that stupid post-bag." She snatched the book out of my 17 and screamed, "Nothing but books, books, books," throwing the book into the fire.
This really 18 me, so I slapped(掌掴) her across the face, not very hard but I did.
One day, a month after 19 the book, I came back from work and found a note waiting for me, "I am going away and not coming back."
We 20 six years after we married.
On May 18, it was announced that China had achieved success in drilling fire ice, a frozen (mix) of water and natural gas, from the South China Sea. (official) known as methane hydrates(甲烷水合物), fire ice produces a high amount of energy when (burn) and its chemical reaction produces nothing but dioxide and water.
Fire ice, both clean and energy-intensive, (consider) the fuel of the future. Many countries, including the United States and Japan, have long been conducting research on fire ice, but extracting（提取）it from the bottom of the sea has been a common problem (trouble) all of them. But, the Chinese team succeeded in drilling fire ice for nearly eight successive days, is a big breakthrough.
However, it is too early (say) a new energy source has been found. The world's total fire ice reserve is about 21,000 trillion cubic meters, which, if extracted, could meet the world's energy need
1,000 years. But the successful test drilling of fire ice does not mean it can be extracted for (industry) use. China has to solve many problems before it can use fire ice as a source of energy.
It's thought that only by 2025 at earliest might people be able to look at realistic commercial options.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I do well in school, so people think I am smart. And it's not true. In fact, three year ago I struggled in Grade 9. Later, I decide to get serious about school, so I made a few changes. First, I decided I would become interesting in whatever was being taught, regardless of that what other people thought. I also made up my mind to work hardly every day. After carry out these changes, I became active participant in classroom discussions. Then my test scores began to rise. How exciting! It seems to myself that being smart is simply a matter for making efforts and being interested.
