Three years ago I listened to a lecture on cognition(认知) that changed the way I think about intelligence. There are two types of cognition. The first is normal cognition: the ability to regain knowledge from memory. The second type of cognition: the ability to know whether or not you know.
Does this affect intelligence? In traditional education, intelligence is measured by cognitive ability. Some people can easily produce everything they know on a test. But others are awarded with poor grades and considered inferior. But does this inability make them any less intelligent? If the question came up on a task, they could refer to a book or a quick Google search. In reality they’re just as effective as the people that ace(擅长) a test. They just can’t prove it as easily.
Metacognition is more important to success than cognition. A person with poor cognitive ability, but great metacognitive ability might do poorly in school, but when faced with a challenge, they understand their abilities and take the best course of action. For example, when faced with a question, a person with strong metacognitive ability will deal with it like this. If he knows the answer, but can’t come up with it, he can always do a bit of research. If he knows for sure that he doesn’t know, then he can start educating himself. Because he’s aware of his ignorance, he doesn’t act with foolish confidence. These people might not seem intelligent at first glance, but because they know what they know, they make better decisions and learn the most important things.
However, people with great cognitive ability but poor metacognitive ability may be considered excellent at a young age for acing every test and getting great SAT scores. Unfortunately, they’ve been ruined by poor metacognition: they think they know everything but they really don’t. They are arrogant (overconfident), fail to learn from mistakes, and don’t understand the slight differences of personal relationships, showing disregard for persons with lower cognitive ability. They may make the worst decisions.
The most important mental power is the ability to know what you don’t know. The recognition of a fault is the first step to improvement. Don’t try to hide a lack of knowledge. For intelligent people this is the toughest lesson to learn.
1.People with great cognitive ability tend to ________.
A. do well in tests B. be considered inferior
C. be more effective than others D. do research when faced with a task
2.The underlined phrase “take the best course of action” probably means ________.
A. starting educating himself B. taking action during the course
C. making the right decision D. coming up with many ideas
3.People with poor metacognition may not succeed because they ________.
A. lack basic moral values B. have improper self evaluation
C. fail to communicate with others D. show little respect for others
4.The author probably supports the idea that ________.
A. intelligence is measured by cognitive ability
B. cognition is the most important mental power
C. the toughest lesson is to distinguish the two types of cognition
D. the awareness of one’s ignorance contributes to one’s improvement
高三英语阅读理解困难题
Three years ago I listened to a lecture on cognition(认知) that changed the way I think about intelligence. There are two types of cognition. The first is normal cognition: the ability to regain knowledge from memory. The second type of cognition: the ability to know whether or not you know.
Does this affect intelligence? In traditional education, intelligence is measured by cognitive ability. Some people can easily produce everything they know on a test. But others are awarded with poor grades and considered inferior. But does this inability make them any less intelligent? If the question came up on a task, they could refer to a book or a quick Google search. In reality they’re just as effective as the people that ace(擅长) a test. They just can’t prove it as easily.
Metacognition is more important to success than cognition. A person with poor cognitive ability, but great metacognitive ability might do poorly in school, but when faced with a challenge, they understand their abilities and take the best course of action. For example, when faced with a question, a person with strong metacognitive ability will deal with it like this. If he knows the answer, but can’t come up with it, he can always do a bit of research. If he knows for sure that he doesn’t know, then he can start educating himself. Because he’s aware of his ignorance, he doesn’t act with foolish confidence. These people might not seem intelligent at first glance, but because they know what they know, they make better decisions and learn the most important things.
However, people with great cognitive ability but poor metacognitive ability may be considered excellent at a young age for acing every test and getting great SAT scores. Unfortunately, they’ve been ruined by poor metacognition: they think they know everything but they really don’t. They are arrogant (overconfident), fail to learn from mistakes, and don’t understand the slight differences of personal relationships, showing disregard for persons with lower cognitive ability. They may make the worst decisions.
The most important mental power is the ability to know what you don’t know. The recognition of a fault is the first step to improvement. Don’t try to hide a lack of knowledge. For intelligent people this is the toughest lesson to learn.
1.People with great cognitive ability tend to ________.
A. do well in tests B. be considered inferior
C. be more effective than others D. do research when faced with a task
2.The underlined phrase “take the best course of action” probably means ________.
A. starting educating himself B. taking action during the course
C. making the right decision D. coming up with many ideas
3.People with poor metacognition may not succeed because they ________.
A. lack basic moral values B. have improper self evaluation
C. fail to communicate with others D. show little respect for others
4.The author probably supports the idea that ________.
A. intelligence is measured by cognitive ability
B. cognition is the most important mental power
C. the toughest lesson is to distinguish the two types of cognition
D. the awareness of one’s ignorance contributes to one’s improvement
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The lecture on how to enjoy pop music is really________worth.
A.very; listening B.well; listening to
C.well; attending to D.very; attending
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Can training Your Working Memory Make You Smarter?
We would all like to increase our cognitive(认知的)ability beyond the limits set by Mother Nature. So it’s no wonder that brain-training programmes—which typically focus on training our working memory—are a multibillion-dollar industry. But can this kind of training really make us smarter?
Cognitive training sees the brain as a kind of muscle that can be made stronger with the right kind of practice. It consists of tasks or games carried out on computers or smart phones. Despite much research, there has so far been no agreement about its effectiveness. Some think that cognitive training increases a broad range of cognitive abilities, while others less optimistic.
Yet we do know that some cognitive skills, such as working memory and intelligence, tend to go together and are predictors of real-life skills such as work performance. Thus, training one cognitive skill might lead to an improvement in many other cognitive and non-cognitive skills. That is exactly the underlying hypothesis(假设)on which working-memory training is based.
To test this hypothesis, we examined all the studies about working-memory training we could find with normally developing children: 26 experiments and 1,601 total participants. Children represent an ideal test group: during childhood, skills are still at the beginning of their development. Thus, cognitive training is more likely to succeed with children than adults.
The results were very clear. Working-memory training did not show any effect on children’s fluid intelligence, a person’s ability to solve new problems and adapt to new situations. It didn’t influence their academic achievement or other cognitive abilities, either. The only reliable effect was that children got better at what they trained to do. No more, no less. So performing working-memory tasks does seem to make you better at doing them. Nonetheless, the fact that participants got better at such tasks does not necessarily mean that their working-memory ability increased. They may just have learnt how to perform that particular type of task.
The results do indicate that the use of working-memory training programs as an educational tool is fruitless. More generally, together with other research, the results contribute to disproving cognitive training companies promises of a better brain.
The results have even more important implications theoretically. They question the hypothesis that training general cognitive mechanisms can affect other cognitive or real-life skills. Beyond working-memory training, other recent studies have shown the improving cognitive skills outside music-including academic skills.
However, these negative results must not discourage us from training our cognitive and non-cognitive skills. We just have to be aware of the actual limitations of such practice in areas outside what we are actually training. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it-the most efficient way to develop a skill is, after all, to train that skill.
1.To find out the effect of working memory training, the author ________.
A. made some scientific studies
B. reviewed the previous research
C. compared different test groups
D. got some children involved in the experiment
2.Children joining in the experiments were able to __________.
A. do better in the field where they are trained
B. obtain greater academic achievements
C. adjust to new situations quickly
D. succeed when they deal with real life problems
3.What is the author’s attitude toward the cognitive training?
A. Pessimistic B. Disapproving
C. Objective D. Optimistic
4.Cognitive training is likely to _______ according to the passage.
A. discover the secrets of human minds
B. make one’s brain stronger by way of practice
C. earn a good name for the training company
D. bring much profit to the training companies
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Listening to music can help me focus better. Since I discovered it two years ago,I've used music to get through boring work or to focus creatively. I've found that it can make even the dullest jobs enjoyable and help clear mental blocks to creativity.
I first noticed the good effects of music while playing video games. It was a few days before Christmas in 2005 and I was playing online video games. My parents had just given me a new MP3,so I decided to listen to music through the headphones while I played. After a few minutes I noticed a great change in my style of play. I was playing more naturally. The music relaxed me,and,to a certain extent,distracted me from the game,allowing my subconscious(潜意识的)talent to come through. The music also helped me block out the outside world. With those headphones on I was like a machine,moving from one task to the next without unnecessary thoughts or actions.
Music can also have a great effect on mood. If I'm in a bad mood at work,I'll listen to some of Bob Marley's and get down to business. It always takes my mind off what I'm doing and makes me a happier person. The same is true for classic rock. One summer,I did a boring job collecting bottle openers by hand. Without a radio playing classic rock in the background,I would have hated life.
Listening to music with relaxing rhythms and a positive message helps you forget your work and think happy thoughts. But the results you see will depend heavily on your personal tastes. Experiment with the types of music you listen to during certain tasks. By trial and error you'll finally discover your best choice.
I'm always looking for new concentration aids,so I'd love to know what type of music works best for me.
1.We can infer that the passage was written in ________.
A.2005 | B.2006 | C.2007 | D.2008 |
2.The author first discovered the effects of music ________.
A.from his parents | B.by chance | C.at work | D.when he was a child |
3.The author mentions the experience of collecting bottle openers in Paragraph 3 to ________.
A.tell us that life is dull | B.prove that music affects mood |
C.tell us how to seek happiness | D.tell us bad mood can affect work |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Three years ago, I was working as a lawyer. For a year or longer, my work was beginning to suffer. I ____ got to the point where I couldn’t concentrate --- one of the early signs that something was _____. I kept forgetting things. Legal work is complicated, and you have to have a good ____ to do that work. So I ____ my job. I talked to my doctor about my family’s ____ of Alzheimer's; my father and grandfather had it. Then I was asked to do some tests. It ____ that I have early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Needless to say, my life has ____. My husband Dan retired soon after my diagnosis (诊断) ____ we spend a lot of time together. ____ going to work, I used to spend my days having lunch with my friends and _____ my mother. I could drive up to see her before I started getting ____. The situation wasn’t _____, but I’d had to turn around enough times that it frightened me. Now I ____ drive out of town. I stay in town.
I am an independent person, but now I have to ____ some of that independence. My husband and I mostly do the shopping together because I ____ the list.
Dan and I are enjoying life while we can. Some people are saving money for trips years down the road. We’re not _____, we take a trip every year.
The one thing I wish I could change is people’s ____ when I tell them I have Alzheimer’s. They shut down. I can still ____; it’s not like suddenly I can’t remember anything. This happened with my father. He was very ____, and he had lots of friends. When his friends learned he got Alzheimer’s, they wouldn’t come to visit him. I think people should learn more about Alzheimer’s and ____ that people with the disease can still socialize.
1.A.hardly B.possibly C.finally D.certainly
2.A.different B.strange C.difficult D.wrong
3.A.reason B.brain C.chance D.hand
4.A.got B.enjoyed C.left D.continued
5.A.habit B.description C.idea D.history
6.A.made sure B.added C.turned out D.meant
7.A.begun B.changed C.returned D.ended
8.A.so B.but C.as D.unless
9.A.Apart from B.Along with C.Because of D.Instead of
10.A.helping B.visiting C.missing D.calling
11.A.bored B.hurt C.tired D.lost
12.A.funny B.terrible C.similar D.special
13.A.never B.again C.often D.still
14.A.ask for B.look at C.give up D.show off
15.A.forget B.make C.take D.hate
16.A.waiting B.caring C.pretending D.listening
17.A.interests B.relationship C.lives D.reaction
18.A.travel B.drive C.talk D.learn
19.A.brave B.social C.honest D.proud
20.A.realize B.explain C.expect D.imagine
高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Three years ago Jenny Salgado, a Dominican shop assistant, moved to Highlandtown, a neighborhood of Baltimore. When she arrived the shop she works in was one of only a few Spanish businesses. Now there are many more. “It’s good now if you speak Spanish,” she smiles.
Baltimore has been losing people for 60 years. To address this, its former mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, wanted to make it the most immigrant-friendly city in the world. Its libraries provide Spanish-language exercise classes. To help those with no papers, the city is introducing micro-loans (小额贷款)which require no credit checks. City police would no longer routinely check the immigration status of citizens or enforce any federal immigration law unless required to. The then governor, Martin O'Malley made it possible for illegal immigrants to get driving licenses. Such welcoming policies are spreading. Such cities as Cleveland, Dayton and Philadelphia all eagerly try to please immigrants. Rick Snyder, Governor of Michigan, has asked the federal government to offer 50,000 visas to people who agree to live in Detroit. His administration has made it easier for skilled migrants to get professional licenses.
When a city’s population falls, both tax receipts and services fall. Half-deserted neighborhoods breed (滋生)crime, driving yet more people to leave.
No city has escaped this without attracting new residents, says Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit. Several studies suggest that when immigrants arrive, crime goes down, schools improve and shops open up. In Detroit, immigrants living near the tiny separate city of Hamtramck have formed local watches to guard against thieves. Their neighborhoods are not just safer; they are also among the only places where it is as easy to buy fresh vegetables as drugs and alcohol.
But attracting new immigrants to the cities which most need them is hard, argues Audrey Singer of the Brookings Institution. They care about the same things as everyone else: safe streets, good schools and jobs. Cities which have lost population for decades struggle with all of these.
1.What does the underlined word “address” mean?
A. Account for. B. Deal with.
C. Get through to. D. Take away from.
2.Which can best describe the situation mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A. A constant matter. B. A dilemma.
C. A classic case. D. A death circle.
3.What is the topic of the last but one paragraph?
A. The positive role immigrants play. B. Problems caused by immigrants.
C. The living conditions of immigrants. D. Difficulties immigrants face in Detroit.
4.Which statement may Audrey Singer agree with?
A. Attracting immigrants to cities losing people is demanding.
B. Immigrants have higher expectations of a city than its locals.
C. There is no need to encourage such immigrant-friendly policies.
D. Attracting immigrants helps prevent a city from losing population.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Two years ago, three scientists traveled to the Antarctica to explore a secret world hidden _________ the ice.
A. among B. beneath C. beyond D. opposite
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Two years ago, three scientists traveled to the Antarctica to explore a secret world hidden _________ the ice.
A.among B.beneath C.beyond D.opposite
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When Mike Mushaw decided to join the national bone marrow (骨髓) registry nearly three years ago, he never ready gave it a second thought. After all, he did it only because his college, football coach had encouraged him and his teammates to register. But about six months after the sign-up, he did get a call. The now 21-year-old linebacker’s bone marrow matched a patient in Virginia. Mushaw had to decide whether to go all in. It would mean spending a night in the hospital and undergoing general anesthesia, which carries some risk. And he’d likely never know whether his donation worked. “Once they took 17 vials (试管) of blood, I was like, ‘All right this is real. This is going to happen.’”
His donation went to a five-month-old girl named Eleanor who was sick with a rare immune-deficiency disease that was diagnosed when she was only three month old. Eleanor had rarely left her house other than to travel to the hospital or the doctor. “Eleanor was going to die without a bone marrow transplant,” her mother, Jessica, told NBC.
Still, there was no guarantee of success. Eleanor’s family had hoped that she would have some improvement from the transplant, enough to live a more normal, life. Instead, after a few weeks, the doctors at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., came back with shocking news: Eleanor’s condition hadn’t just improved—Mushaw’s bone marrow had cured her.
Mushaw didn’t know any of this until months after his donation. In most cases, the donor and recipient remain anonymous to each other. But about six months after the procedure, Eleanor’s parents sent him an e-mail to thank him for saving her life.
“When they told me it was a little girl, I got a little choked up,” Mushaw says. But their surprising connection was only beginning. Mushaw asked whether he and Eleanor could FaceTime regularly so he could check on her progress. “It was amazing to watch her and be a part of her life,” he says. Eleanor kept tabs on him, too, by watching his football games on TV. Mushaw often invited her family to drive from Virginia to Connecticut to meet at his games where tiny shouts of “Mike! Mike!” could be heard from the stands as the little girl cheered on her very own hero.
“I had waited by that point well over a year to finally give a hug to this guy who saved my daughter’s life,” Jessica says. “We felt like we were on cloud nine all weekend getting to spend time with him and have him be with Eleanor.” In January, Mushaw reunited with Eleanor, this time in Virginia, to celebrate her birthday. It will likely be the first of many celebrations together. “As a parent, it feels really great to watch someone love your kid as much as you do,” Jessica says. We were two complete strangers, and now we’ve become such a big part of each other’s lives.”
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.Mushaw decided to join the national bone marrow registry on his own.
B.Mushaw was unwilling to donate his bone marrow.
C.Mushaw at first wondered whether his donation would work.
D.Mushaw signed up the bone marrow registry at 21.
2.What does the underlined phrase “kept tabs on” in paragraph 5 mean?
A.pay a price to B.pay close attention to
C.keep a record of D.keep pace with
3.What can we know about Eleanor from the article?
A.Eleanor was often taken out to travel before deceiving the donation.
B.Eleanor’s family was certain that she could be cured with the donation.
C.Eleanor was excited when watching Mike’s football game.
D.Eleanor first saw Mushaw when Mushaw went to Virginia to celebrate her birthday.
4.Which is the best title for the article?
A.A Little Life Saved, A Big Friend Made
B.A Medical Miracle
C.A Lucky Transplant
D.Donation Working, Girl Saved
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
I have learned something about myself since I moved from Long Island to Florida three years ago. Even though I own a home in Port St, Lucie just minutes from the ocean, an un- controllable urge wells up to return to Long Island even as others make their way south. I guess I am a snowbird stuck in reverse. Instead of enjoying Florida’s mild winters, I willingly endure the severe weather on Long Island, the place I called home for 65 years.
I’m like a migratory bird (候鸟) that has lost its sense of timing and direction, my wings flapping against season.
So what makes me fly against the tide of snowbirds? The answer has a lot to do with my reluctance to give up the things that define who I am. Once I hear that the temperature on Long Island has dipped into the range of 40 to 50 degrees, I begin to long for the sight and crackling sound of a wood fire. I also long for the bright display of colors-first in the fall trees, and then in the lights around homes and at Rockefeller Center. Floridians decorate too, but can’t create the special feel of a New England winter.
I suppose the biggest reason why I return is to celebrate the holidays with people I haven’t seen in months. What could be better than sitting with family and friends for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner, or watching neighbors children excitedly open gifts on Christmas? Even the first snowfall seems special. I especially enjoy seeing a bright red bird settling on a snow-covered branch. (My wife and I spend winters at a retirement community in Ridge, and I’m grateful that I don’t have to shovel.)
While these simple pleasures are not unique to Long Island, they are some of the reasons why I come back. Who says you can’t go home?
1.What’s the difference between Florida and Long Island?
A.Winters in Florida are milder.
B.The snowbirds in Florida are rarer.
C.Weather in Florida is severer.
D.Florida is nearer to the ocean.
2.What does the underlined word “reluctance” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Unwillingness.
B.Expectation.
C.Coincidence.
D.Motivation.
3.Which of the following words can best describe the author?
A.Imaginative and outspoken.
B.Hard-working and serious.
C.Homesick and easy-going
D.Anxious and painful.
4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To describe his dream to be a free bird.
B.To express his feeling of missing his hometown.
C.To praise the beauty and warmth of his hometown.
D.To explain the reasons for moving from his hometown.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析