Your name made you do it, though unconsciously, suggests new research that finds your name can negatively make you achieve less. Psychologists at Yale and the University of California, San Diego studying the unconscious influence of names say a preference for our own names and initials — the “name-letter effect” — can have some negative consequences.

Students whose names begin with C or D get lower grades than those whose names begin with A or B; major league baseball players whose first or last names began with K (the strikeout-signifying letter) are significantly more likely to strike out.

Assistant professors Leif Nelson of UCSD and Joseph Simmons of Yale have conducted five studies over five years using information from thousands of individuals.

“The conscious process is baseball players want to get a hit and students want to get A's,” Nelson says. “So if you get a change in performance consistent with the name-letter effect, it clearly shows there must be some unconscious desire operating in the other direction.”

The researchers' work supports a series of studies published since 2002 that have found the “name-letter effect” causes people to make life choices based on names that resemble their own. Those studies by Brett Pelham, an associate professor at SUNY University, have found that people are disproportionately（不定比例地）likely to live in states or cities resembling their names, have careers that resemble their names and even marry those whose surnames begin with the same letter as their own.

The twist, Pelham says, is that he has believed the name-letter effect would apply only to positive outcomes. Nelson and Simmons, he says, are “showing it applies more so to negative things than positive things.”

The researchers say the effect is definitely more than coincidence but is small nevertheless. “I know plenty of Chrises and Davids who have done very well in school,” Simmons says.

1.The new research is mainly about the relationship between one’s ______.

A．name and unconsciousness	B．name and characteristics
C．name and success	D．sports and school achievements

2.Who may serve as an example to show the “name-letter effect”?

A．Miss Smith working as a lawyer.	B．Charles Brown married to Sue Rogers.
C．Mr. Watt living in Washington	D．Paula Snow fond of the color white.

3.Which can be used to explain the underlined word “twist” in the last but one paragraph?

A．Difference．	B．Conclusion．
C．Funny side．	D．Shared part．

4.The last paragraph mainly tells us that the “name-letter effect” ______.                

A．isn’t believed in by many people	B．doesn’t work with certain names
C．may not really exist	D．is often too small to show

 

—Will $200 __________ the cost of the damage?

—I’m afraid not.I need at least 100 more dollars.

A.resemble            B.include        C.cover          D.afford

 I was reading these intriguing stories behind a group of great logos in the world. Personally Nike is my favorite one—it's so simple. And I liked the stories behind them, which made me forget all other things. McDonald's, Apple, Mercedes Benz and Adidas own great logos as well，and they are among my very favorites.

Nike

In the Greek myth, Nike is the goddess of victory and the source of inspiration  for  soldiers. This  logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek goddess. Nike's logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for $35，and was registered as a trademark in 1995.

McDonald's

The logo was designed in 1962 by Jim Schindler  to  resemble  the  archshaped  signs  on  the  side  of  the company's then walk­up hamburger stand. Later on, the two golden arches were combined together to form the M．The McDonald's name was added to the logo in 1968.

Apple

There  are  different  stories  behind Apple's logo. The first logo was a reference to the religious story of Adam and Eve, in which the apple represented the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One year later, the second logo was designed in 1977 by Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne，and it described Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. This logo didn't stay long. One year later it was replaced almost immediately by graphic designer Rob Janoff's “rainbow apple”，a rainbow­colored silhouette(輪廓)of an  apple with a bite taken out of it. And then the rainbow­colored apple was replaced by the onecolored logo in 1998. It has not been changed so far.

Mercedes Benz

The Mercedes Benz logo, which was originally created by Gottlieb Daimler in 1909, consists of a simple description of a three­pointed star that represents its rule of the land，the sea and the air. The company was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Marcedes is the name of Maybach's elder daughter, while Benz came as a result of a combination with Benz，Cie. and DMG in 1926.

Adidas

The  Adidas  logo, which  was created by the founder of the company Adi Dassler, represents mountains, pointing towards the challenges that are seen ahead and goals that can be achieved. The logo was used for the first time in 1967.

56．What does the author think of the stories of the great logos?

A. They are boring.

B. They are out of date.

C. They are attractive.

D. They are practical.

57．What does Nike's logo stand for?

A. The goddess of victory.

B. The source of inspiration for soldiers.

C. The statue of the Greek goddess.

D. The wing of the Greek goddess.

58．We can learn that Apple's present logo is ________.

A. the religious story of Adam and Eve

B. a bitten apple with only one color

C. Newton's sitting under an apple tree

D. the rainbow­colored bitten apple

59．Which of the following time orders describes the births of the great logos?

A. Mercedes Benz—McDonald's—Nike—Apple

B. Nike—McDonald's—Apple—Mercedes Benz

C. McDonald's—Apple—Nike—Mercedes Benz

D. Nike—Mercedes Benz—McDonald's—Apple

A new report said scientists may not be far from giving apes the ability to think and talk like humans. The report is about experiments which transplant human cells into animals for medical purposes.
It claimed that concerns about the creation of talking apes should be taken seriously. It should also draw people’s attention to the possibility that the medical research about creating “humanised” animals is going to generate monsters.
A regulatory（監(jiān)管的）body is needed to closely monitor any experiments that many risk creating animals with human-like consciousness or giving them any appearance or behavioural traits that too closely resemble humans, the report said.
Scientists would, for example, be prevented from replacing a large number of an ape’s brain cells with human brain cells until more is known about the potential risks. This has already been done in simpler animals like mice, which is judged to be less risky.
Under the new UK guidelines, the power to regulate tests on animals containing human material would be transferred to a body with wider responsibility for animal testing in the Home Office.
While there is no risk from experiments currently being carried out in Britain, it is possible that ethical (道德的) boundaries could be crossed within the next few years if scientists are not careful, the experts said.
Professor Thomas Baldwin, a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences working group that produced the report, said the possibility of humanised apes should be taken seriously.
He said, “The fear is that if you start putting very large numbers of human brain cells into the brains of primates（靈長類動物）you might transform the primates into something that has some of the abilities that we regard as distinctly human, such as speech, or other ways of being able to manipulate or relate to us.”
Professor Martin Bobrow, chair of the academy working group that produced the report, said, “The very great majority of experiments present no issues beyond the general use of animals in research and these should continue to proceed under the current regulations.”
Lord Willis, chair of the Association of Medical Research Charities, said, “AMRC only supports research that is absolutely necessary and where no suitable alternative methods are available.”
【小題1】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Ethical rules to limit humanised animals.

B．The potential results of humanised apes.

C．The possibility of humanised animals.

D．The danger of human-like animals.

【小題2】The underlined word “manipulate” in the passage probably means “_______”.

A．a(chǎn)ppeal

B．possess

C．control

D．a(chǎn)ssociate

【小題3】Which of the following statements might Professor Thomas Baldwin agree with?

A．It is necessary to do some experiments about humanised animals.

B．Experiments about humanised animals should be done within the law.

C．It would be dangerous to do experiments about humanised animals.

D．It is urgent to ban experiment about humanised animals.

【小題4】It can be inferred that _______.

A．people should be careful when creating talking apes

B．Thomas Baldwin and Lord Willis are from the same organization

C．creating humanised animals is difficult in Britain now

D．scientists must be cautious not to cross ethical boundaries

Homework is work, not play. In contrast to what some might hope, students 55 finish their homework exclaiming that they had great fun. Nor is homework an activity that students choose to undertake. It is 56 by a teacher for students to complete on the teacher’s schedule, with the teacher’s requirements in mind． So to have the fight 57 Will be of great help. Homework means business and the student should expect to work on it seriously. As in the work place, careless efforts and lack of self-discipline are likely to make the  58 impression.

       Teachers assign homework for  59 purposes. In some cases, teachers seek to review and solidify material being covered in class; homework is also designed to 60 student learning beyond class lessons. As students mature, teachers often assign homework nightly in several subjects. Homework is also used to prepare students to handle new work, 61 in the ease of summer reading. Increasingly, school reforms call for homework to take the form of course projects, thus increasing its 62 to “real-life” job-related activity.

       Like jobs, homework can be appealing when its resources are well managed. Resources 63 sources of information—textbooks, of course, and increasingly, the Internet—but they also include a quiet space to work, materials and equipment such as calculators, paper or a computer, and others who cohabit (共面存在) in the homework environment. The external (外部的) resources needed for homework can be viewed as a kind of 64 . office for the child with features like those needed in the workplace.

A．sometimes     B．often       C．mostly      D．rarely

A．discovered    B．forced      C．a(chǎn)ssigned    D．taught

A．a(chǎn)mount  B．a(chǎn)nswer     C．schedule   D．a(chǎn)ttitude

A．general  B．vivid       C．wrong      D．vague

A．high      B．various     C．ordinary   D．temporary

A．extend   B．describe   C．display     D．reward

A．a(chǎn)s   B．when C．even if      D．now that

A．a(chǎn)djustment    B．solution    C．a(chǎn)pproach        D．connection

A．indicate  B．include    C．reserve    D．resemble

A．home   B．business   C．head       D．supply