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Studying abroad
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| I am from Toronto, Canada and I moved to Madrid, Spain in September to pursue my master's degree（硕士学位）. After almost two years of full-time work, I realized that I loved my field so much that I wanted to pursue higher education in the same field. Then I decided to pursue a Master's while having an experience abroad in Madrid. I chose Madrid because it is the business capital of Spain. They have amazing food, great wine, amazing culture and a beautiful language. |
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| I am studying abroad in Amsterdam in the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam now. I have always wanted to study abroad because I wanted an experience studying in the Western atmosphere（气氛）. I choose the Netherlands because their courses are taught in English and that is very convenient for me. It is also a very student-friendly country. |
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| Being an international student is a very interesting and useful experience. I got to know so many interesting students and discussed with them about different topics, not just about studies. What I wanted to experience most was the European lifestyle and cultures. Aside from the cultures, you also get to properly enjoy your time with others according to the real French lifestyle. |
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| As I got closer to graduating from high school, I began to consider spending a year or so travelling, either before or after studying at university. I was really excited to go outside of the UK. Studying abroad has given me the confidence to continue pursuing opportunities that lie outside of my comfort zone（舒适区）. |
1.Where does Jessica come from?
A.Spain. B.Canada. C.The Netherlands. D.The UK.
2.Who studies in the Netherlands?
A.Jessica. B.Dixie. C.Myriam. D.Oli.
3.What does Myriam think of studying abroad?
A.Interesting. B.Challenging. C.Boring. D.Amazing.
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Yuncheng went to school for only one day and he did not start learning to read until he was 12 years old. He has a disease which affects the muscles in his body. His parents first noticed there was something wrong with their son when he was just three years old. By the time he was seven, the boy could neither run nor jump. He could only walk. On his first day of school, Yuncheng had to watch the other students as they ran around at lunchtime. That day he caught a cold and his parents decided not to send him back to school. So Yuncheng stayed at home and over the years his condition got worse and worse.
However, Yuncheng's condition has not stopped him making the most of his life. Yuncheng also taught himself to write and when he was 17 he wrote a letter to a newspaper describing his situation and his dream of a better life. The letter was read by Zhang Danuo, an editor at the newspaper, who was inspired by Yuncheng's spirit.
Zhang Danuo offered to help Yuncheng achieve his ambition to write a book. Yuncheng was always happy when he finished an assignment.“I felt everything in the world was beautiful and how wonderful it was to live in the world, ”he said. Yuncheng's book describes what his life is like, what his hopes and dreams are and how he overcomes the problems he faces every day. Readers have been inspired by his courage and his good heart and his book has sold extremely well. Yuncheng says that because his life will not be long one, he must do as much as he can in the time that is left to him.
1.Yuncheng couldn't __________when he was seven years old.
A.walk B.jump C.see D.hear
2.__________helped Yuncheng achieve his ambition to write a book.
A.His parents B.His teacher C.An editor D.A writer
3.Why has Yuncheng's book sold extremely well?
A.Because his book describes what his life is like. B.Because he got help from Zhang Danuo.
C.Because his story is very strange. D.Because his courage has inspired readers.
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How do you feel when your teacher asks you to work on a group project with other students? Do you like to work together with others or work alone?
The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, carried out a survey of students' ability to work together in groups. They found that students who do well on tests by themselves are also likely to be better at working with other people.
This finding was true for many countries. Students in Japan, South Korea, Finland and Canada, where test scores are high, also did well in working together to solve problems. But this was not the case for every country. Chinese students, who tend（趋向）to have high scores as well, displayed just average collaborative（合作的）skills.
“One reason might be that Chinese parents and teachers focus too much on grades, ”said Zhao Zhongxin, former vice president of the Chinese Family Education Association.“Students have a lot of exam pressure and they view school as a place for competition.”
“However, collaborative skills are very important for preparing students for today's society, ”he added.“Luckily, more Chinese parents and teachers are realizing the importance of this and are thinking of ways to help students improve this skill.”
Another interesting finding from the PISA survey was that girls tend to be better than boys at working together. They said girls show more positive attitudes toward relationships, which means they are more willing to listen to others' opinions.
PISA also found that the classroom environment tends to influence how well students collaborate. In classes where there are a lot of activities that require communication, such as class debates, students tend to have better attitudes toward collaborating.
1.Which of the following is NOT one of the survey's findings?
A.Those who do well on tests are also better at working with others.
B.Collaborative skills are more important than scores for students' futures.
C.Girls are better at working with others than boys.
D.The classroom environment can influence students' ability to work in groups.
2.What can teachers do to improve their students' ability to work with others?
A.Give students high scores on every test. B.Help students to get used to exam pressure.
C.Make girls work with girls instead of boys. D.Arrange more communicative activities in class.
3.What's the passage mainly about?
A.How to improve collaborative skills.
B.Who tend to cooperate in working.
C.The result of a survey on students' collaborative ability.
D.The process of a survey on students' collaborative ability.
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A new research has discovered that meditation（冥想）and oxygen sport together reduce depression（抑郁）. The Rutgers University study found that this mind and body combination, done twice a week for only two months, reduced the symptoms of a group of students by 40 percent.
“We are excited by the findings because we saw such a meaningful improvement in both clinically depressed and non-depressed students, ”said lead author Dr. Brandon Alderman.“It is the first time that both of these two behavioral ways have been looked at together for dealing with depression.”
Researchers believe the two activities have an interactive（交互的）effect in combating depression. Alderman and Dr. Tracey Shors discovered that a combination of mental and physical training( MAP) enabled students with major depressive disorder not to let problems or negative thoughts defeat them.
Rutgers researchers say those who participated in the study began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of oxygen sport. They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing, which enabled those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention.
Shors, who studies the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus-part of the brain involved in memory and learning-says scientists have shown in animal models that oxygen sport exercise keeps a large number of certain cells alive.
The idea for the human intervention（干预）came from her laboratory studies, she says, with the main goal of helping individuals acquire new skills so that they can learn to recover from stressful life events.
By learning to focus their attention and exercise, people who are fighting depression can acquire new learning skills that can help them process information and reduce the overwhelming recollection of memories from the past, Shors says.
“We know these treatments can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be affective in improving mental health, ”said Alderman.“The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost.”
1.What made the research so different?
A.Adopting a way of meaningful talk. B.Treating depression with special medicine.
C.Combining the two ways to reduce depression. D.Comparing the depressed with the non-depressed.
2.The underlined word "combasting" in Paragraph 3 probably means __________.
A.fighting B.developing C.improving D.examining
3.What can we know about what the participants did in the research?
A.They did oxygen sport half an hour before thinking. B.They thought quietly and then took exercise.
C.They took exercise longer than they thought. D.They took exercise while thinking quietly.
4.What is Shors' main purpose of her studies?
A.To find out certain brain cells of humans. B.To study the production of new brain cells.
C.To offer people a new method to reduce stress. D.To decide the links between stress and exercise.
