Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind．How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing．

    By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic （邏輯） behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand．Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding．In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”

    Try this experiment．Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea how right now．Just start with anything, and create an explanation．For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help．You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain twenty minutes from now．

    Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember．Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes．You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success．

   Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it．That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better．Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there．

    Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand．Often, they write about something because they want to understand it．You can do the same．Writing will help bring you to an understanding．Give it a try.

1．What would be the best title for the text?

      A．A Way on How to Write

       B．Increase Your Brain Power through Writing

      C．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing

       D．How to Start Your Writing

2．According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT ______.

      A．the increase of your brain power 

       B．the ability to remember

      C．the development of your interest in study

       D．the better understanding of a topic

3．If a writer writes something, it means that he or she _______.

      A．has understood it very well 

       B．needs to understand it better

      C．wants to remember it in his or her mind

       D．is exercising his or her “explain power”

4．The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.

      A．you are already successful

       B．you still need to work hard

      C．writing can help you walk half way

       D．writing is important to solve problems

5．What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?

      A．To advise readers to start their writing．

       B．To explain the importance of writing.

      C．To persuade readers to become writers．

       D．To increase readers’ brain power.

閱讀下面短文并回答問題。

“No man is an island”is a well-known line from John Donne’s Devotion, written more than three hundred years ago．Even now people still agree with him．No one can live a completely isolated life．Without other people, life became empty and sad．We all need to have friends.

For some of us, though making friends is not difficult, feeling shy, we may not want to make the first move．It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.

There are many books about friendship, but Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, written in 1936, is the most famous．This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best seller．It was later put into 28 languages.

Dale Carnegie’s advice seems to be simple, but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book:

（1）Be friendly and polite.

Always greet with a smile．Begin with “excuse me ” or “would you please” when       ．Remember to say “thank you” and try to be as helpful as you can.

（2）Go out of your way to be nice.

Find some time to do special things for other people．Making some soup for a sick neighbour may seem like a little thing to you, but it will make your neighbour feel a lot better.

（3）Remember names.

They say that the sweetest music to a person’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.

（4）Be open-minded.

Try to understand other people’s ways and ideas and learn something from them.

（5）Listen patiently． When someone is talking to you, look at him or her, listen carefully and say something when necessary．

1．What is the best title of this passage？（Please answer within 5 words）

_______________________________________________________________________________

2．Please fill in the blank with proper words.（Please answer within 10 words）

_______________________________________________________________________________

3．Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

They will feel very happy when they hear their names．

_______________________________________________________________________________

4．Why do some of us feel it not easy to make friends?（Please answer within 10 words）

_______________________________________________________________________________

5．Translate the underlined sentence in the second paragraph into Chinese.

______________________________________________________________________________

The moment you step on _________ board the ship to the USA, you must have an opened mind towards _________ new environment you face．

A．a(chǎn); 不填         B．a(chǎn); the          C．不填; the        D．the; the

As we all know, the Internet will let people have ______ to huge amounts of information from their own homes．

A．a(chǎn)ccess       B．way           C．means         D．entrance

When I say two hours, _______ includes time for eating

A．a(chǎn)s          B．which            C．what          D．that

This college allows students to develop their own interests, to ______extent they wished．

A．whoever        B．whatever         C．however         D．whenever

To his disappointment, his new job doesn’t ______ his interests．

A．a(chǎn)pply to          B．correspond to       C．cater to          D．subscribe to

— Could you introduce me a high quality car?

— My pleasure．______ well even on wet roads, this kind of car is very popular．

A．Handled        B．Handling        C．To handle           D．Being handled

—Will another fifty be enough?

— Just twenty will _______．

A．do          B．work         C．suit         D．fit

The exchange program between the UK and China may affect various schools, ______from kindergartens to high schools．

A．ranged          B．to range        C．ranging          D．having ranged