One day when I was 12,my mother gave me an order:I was to walk to the public library,and borrowat least one book for the summer.This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange probleminability to read.

In the library,I found my way into the "Children's Room."I sat down on the floor and pulled a fewbooks offthe shelf at random.The cover of a book caught my eye.It presented a picture of a beagle.I hadrecently had a beagle,the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child.He was my secret sharer,but one morning,he was gone,given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him.Inever forgot my beagle.

There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked identical to my dog.I ran my fingers over thepicture of the dog on the cover.My eyes ran across the title,Amos,the Beagle with a Plan.Unknowingly,I had read the title.Without opening the book,I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

Under the shade of a bush,I started to read about Amos.I read very,very slowly with difficulty.Though pages were turned slowly,I got the main idea of the story about a dog who,like mine,had beenseparated from his family and who finally found his way back home.That dog was my dog,and I was thelittle boy in the book.At the end of the story,my mind continued the final scene of reunion,on and on,until my own lost dog and I were,in my mind,running together.

My mother's call returned me to the real world .I suddenly realized something:I had read a book,andI had loved reading that book.Everyone knew I could not read But I had read it.Books could beincredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.

I never told my mother about my "miraculous"(奇迹般地)experience that summer,but she saw aslow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year.And years later,shewas proud that her son had read thousands of books,was awarded a PhD in literature,and authored hisown books,articles,poetry and fiction.The power ofthe words has held.

56.The author's mother told him to borrow a book in order to.

A.encourage him to do more walking B.let him spend a meaningful summer

C.help cure him ofhis reading problem D.make him learn more about weapons

57.The book caught the author's eye because.

A.it reminded him of his own dog B.he found its title easy to understand

C.it contained pretty pictures of animals D.he liked children's stories very much

58.Why could the author manage to read the book through?

A.He was forced by his mother to read it. B.He identified with the story in the book.

C.The book told the story ofhis pct dog. D.The happy ending ofthe story attracted him.

59.Which one could be the best title ofthe passage?

A.My Passion for Reading B.Mum's Strict Order C.Reunion with My Beagle D.The Charm of a Book

B

In the United States alone,over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year.Cell-phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants.The electronic waste stream is increasing three times taster than traditional garbage as a whole.

Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver.A Swiss study reported that whilethe weightof electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste,the concentration(含量)ofgold and other precious metals was higher inSo-called e-waste thanin naturally occurring minerals.

Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals.Even when the machines are recycled and theharmful metals removed,the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries,in practicallyuncontrolled ways which allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.

Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material,up to 100 times more,thanthe material contained in the finished products.Consider again the cell-phone,and imagine the mines thatproduced those metals,the factories needed to make the box and packaging(包装)it came in.Many wastesproduced in the producing process are harmful as well.

The U.SEnvironmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that"theproduction, distribution,and use ofproducts-as well as management of the resulting waste-all resultin greenhouse gas release."Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start-for instance,buying reusable products and recycling.

In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been putin place as an incentive(动机)for reducing waste.If producers are required to take back packaging theyuse to sell their products,would they reduce the packaging in the first place?

Governments'incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce isusually based on money.Why,they ask,should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap(气泡垫)that encased your television?

From the governments' point of view,a primary goal of laws requiring extended producerresponsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from thegovernment and tax-payers back to the producers.

60.By mentioning the Swiss study,the author intends to tell us that.

A.the weight of e-goods is rather small B.naturalminerals contain more precious metals

C.E-waste deserves to be made good use of D.the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste

61.The responsibility of c-waste treatment should be extended.

A.from producers to governments B.from governments to producers

C.from individuals to distributors D from distributors to governments

62.What docs the passage mainly talk about?

A.The increase in e-waste. B.The creation of e-waste.

C.The seriousness of e-waste. D.The management of e-waste.

C

What exactly is intelligence?There aren't any easy answers.Despite the progress that has been madein genetics and psychology,human intelligence has remained one of the most controversial areas ofmodern science,until now,that is,for the discovery of a gene(基因)linked to intelligence has made the experts think again.

Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have beenlooking into genetic make-up.From their research,they have discovered that a slightly different gene ismore common in those with a high IQ.Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of51 children agedbetween 6 and 15.What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136,putting them in the top 5% ofthe population,while the other group had an average IQ of 103.An analysis of their genes showed that32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question,while only 16% in the second group did.However,there is A.lot more research to be done,and Plomin himselfis cautious at this early stage.Hesuggests that there are probably many genes that contribute to intelligence,rather than just one.

Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success,although some psychologistsremain unconvinced about this.Professor Michael Rowe,who has written a book calledGenius Explained,is one ofthese."The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do bestin their careers."

Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence,IQ isn't everything.Manyalternative views have been put forward recently.One example is the idea of multiple intelligences,whichwas developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner.This offers a much broader viewthan the IQ theory,including creativity and communication skills as relevant factors(因素)in intelligence.