One day an old man is selling a big elephant. A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly. The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “ Don’t say anything about the elephant before I sell it. Then I will give you twenty dollars.”“All right,” says the young man. After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “ Now, can you tell me how you found the elephant’s bad ears?”“ I didn’t find the bad ears,” says the young man. “ Then why are you looking at the elephant slowly?” asks the old man. The young man answers, “Because I have never seen an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like.”
(   )1. ______ the elephant.
A. The young man sells      B. The old man sells
C. The two men sell         D. The old man buys
(   )2. The young man is looking at the elephant slowly. He wants to find out _______.
A. which foot of the elephant is bad    B. how heavy it is
C. which ear of the elephant is bad     D. what it looks like
(   )3. The young man _______.
A. knows the elephant has bad ears   B. wants to buy the elephant
C. looks after the elephant   D. gets some money from the old man
(   )4. The young man _______.
A. is not interested in elephants    B. knows what an elephant looks like
C. has seen some elephants before
D. has never seen an elephant before
(  )5. Hearing what the young man said, the old man will probably(可能) be ______
A. angry      B. happy      C. dangerous     D. hungry

Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical(批判性的) thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes（過(guò)程）. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.
The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen--beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning.
Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are interested in life and want to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.
Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning（推理）are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure（尺度）of intelligence（智慧）, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein. Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately made Hoffman feel comfortable by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.” 
【小題1】Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, _______.

A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

B．we might be controlled by other people’s ideas

C．we will follow the ideas of others naturally

D．we might be fooled by other people’s ideas

【小題2】If you are a critical thinker, you will ________.

A．take one view against another view

B．trust the reports in the newspapers

C．think deeply about different ideas

D．criticize other people for their mistakes

【小題3】In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that ________.

A．speed can improve intelligence

B．intelligence is not decided by speed

C．the smarter you are, the faster you do things

D．the faster you do things, the smarter you become

Mr. White is a farmer. Last month he 36 his truck to town and on the way his truck knocked down a  37  and hurt him. He sent the boy to a  38 at once. He paid a lot of money for that, but the boy’s  39 wanted to get more money from him. So they said their son could no longer lift his 40 arm above his head.

Mr. White’s lawyer(律師) came and asked the boy a few questions in the court(法庭). “Now, my boy,” he said, “you were hurt 41 , weren’t you?” “Yes, sir,” said the boy. “And you can’t lift your right arm now, can you?” “42 , sir.”

“Could you 43  us how you can lift your right arm?” Slowly the boy lifted his right arm before his nose. “Poor boy,” said the lawyer. “And how 44  could you lift it before the accident?” “Oh, very high,” said the boy proudly (自豪) and the arm went up right over his 45 .

1.	A．took B．brought C．made D．drove

 

2.	A．girl B．parent C．boy D．farmer

 

3.	A．hospital B．home C．farm D．court

 

4.	A．grandfather B．father C．parents D．mother

 

5.	A．left B．right C．both D．one

 

6.	A．last month B．this month C．yesterday D．last week

 

7.	A．Yes B．Of course C．Yes, I can’t D．No

 

8.	A．show B．tell C．say D．a(chǎn)sk

 

9.	A．low B．high C．far D．near

 

10.	A．nose B．a(chǎn)rm C．head D．right arm

 

He was struggling(費(fèi)勁) to tie his shoes. I was struggling with whether I should help him.

I did, and he was grateful.

“Thank you,” he said.

“I’m glad I could help. I just thought it would be easier for me to reach,” I said.

He was a disabled man, and forced to look down most of the time. His arms and legs were twisted(扭曲的) terribly, and he couldn’t do what the rest of us would consider easy tasks. He always managed to look up to see how you reacted(反應(yīng)) to his words, however. He had a big smile, making me feel comfortable.

I was still on my knees by his wheelchair.

“ Nice shoes,” he said.

“Thanks. No one ever complimented (贊美) me on them before,” I said.

“No one has the same view of the world as I do,” he replied.

“Tell me about the world as you see it,” I said smiling.

“Most people can see if someone is comfortable with them or not in their eyes. I see it in their feet.” he said. “If people keep moving their feet, I just let them go, because I know they’re impatient with me. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable.

“What about me? I asked.

“I could see your compassion. And then you came down to my level. I was the one who was nervous.” he said. “I don’t normally have someone look me in the eye.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing,” I told him.

“My old face is nothing to brag(自夸) about.” he said.

“But that smile is so big.”

Yes, and it’s not only a big smile but an attitude.

1.The disabled man knew people were impatient mostly by their _________.

A．words            B．eyes             C．feet              D．smile

2.The unlined word “compassion ”means _______ in Chinese.

A．注意             B．同情             C．信任             D．職責(zé)

3.We learn that the disabled man _________.

A．had great difficulty looking after himself

B．a(chǎn)lways asked people for help

C．couldn’t have a big smile

D．liked to talk about people’s shoes

4.The writer felt comfortable because _________.

A．he had a nice talk to the man              B．the man looked him in the eye

C．he didn’t move his feet before the man     D．the man had a big smile on the face

5.We can infer （推斷）from the passage that _________.

A．the disable man had something wrong with his mind

B．not many people went down to the man’s level

C．the man was good at telling people about the world

D．the writer would not give the man more help

 

Here’s how you can take the taxi in Japan

●From train station or airports(機(jī)場(chǎng)), go to the taxi stand and wait there.

●In the street, look for a taxi that has a red light in the front window. It means the taxi has no passengers(乘客). ( If the light is green, the taxi has passengers. )

●When you see an empty taxi, wave(揮動(dòng)) your hand and call it.

●The back door opens automatically(自動(dòng)地), so stand back and wait until the door opens.

●Get in the taxi and tell the driver where you want to go.

●Before you get out of the taxi, pay it.

●Wait until the door opens and get out of the taxi.

1.According to the text, “taxi stand” means____in Chinese.

A．出租車(chē)站立

B．出租車(chē)停止

C．出租車(chē)加油站

D．出租車(chē)車(chē)站

2.If you want to take a taxi, you should____after you come out of the airport.

A．wait at the airport	B．wait in the street
C．go to the taxi stand and wait there	D．go to the bus stop

3. If you see____, you can wave your hand and call it.

A．a(chǎn) taxi with a passenger	B．a(chǎn)n empty taxi
C．a(chǎn) car with the “taxi” sign	D．a(chǎn) taxi with a green light on

4.Before you get in the taxi, you should____.

A．open the front door	B．open the back door
C．wait until the back door opens	D．wait until the front door opens

5.After you get in the taxi, ____.

A．tell the driver where you want to go	B．tell the driver your family address
C．tell the driver what you are	D．tell the driver your name