2017年备战中考初中英语专项训练—阅读理解（科普环保类）

For some people, musicis no fun at all. About 4% of the population is what scientists call "amusic". People who are amusic are born without the ability to enjoy musical notes. Amusic people often cannot tell the differences between two songs.

As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amuics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. In fact, most people cannot understand what it feel like be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping center can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics have to stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in social loneliness. "I used to hate parties,"says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify(辨别) this unusual condition.

  Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different for those of people who can enjoy music. The difference is complex(复杂的), and it is not connected with poor hearing. Amusics can understand other non-musical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding common speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can't see certain colors.

Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed(诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem music. Now she knows that she is not alone. That makes it easier for her to explain. "When people invite me to a concert, I just say "No, thanks. I'm amusic." says Margret.

Are you shy? If you are, you are not alone. In fact, close to 50 percent of people are shy. Almost 80 percent of people feel shy at some point in their lives. These days, shyness is becoming more and more common. Now, scientists are trying to understand shyness. They have some interesting ideas about why people are shy.

    Is it possible to be born shy? Many scientists say yes. They say 15 to 20 percent of babies behave shyly. These babies are a little quieter and more watchful than other babies. Interestingly, these shy babies usually have shy parents. As a result, scientists think that some shyness isgenetic.
    Family size might causepeople to be shy as well. Scientists at Harvard University studied shy children. They found that 66 percent of them had older brothers and sisters. As a result, they became shy. At the same time, children with no brothers and sisters may be shy as well. Growing up alone, they often play by themselves. They are not able to learn the same social skills as children from big families.

    You may also be shy because of where you were born. When scientists studied shyness in different countries. They found surprising differences. In Japan, most people said they were shy. But in Israel, only one of three people said so. What explains the difference? One scientist says the Japanese and Israelis have different opinions of failure. In Japan, when people do not succeed, they feel bad about themselves. They blame（责备）themselves for their failure. In Israel, the opposite is true. Israelis often blame failure on outside reasons, such as family, teachers, friends, or bad luck. In Israel, freedom of opinion and risk taking are strongly supported. This may be why Israelis worry less about failure and are less shy.

    For shy people, it can be difficult to make friends, speak in class, and even get a good job. But scientists say you can get over your shyness. They suggest trying new things and practicing conversation. And don't forget—if you are shy, you are not the only one.

    If the eyes are the windows of the soul, then the body is the mirror of our feelings. If we are feeling great, we may give our body signals(信号). If we look at someone else's body, we can often tell how they are feeling by their body signals. So reading body language signals is a great tool in daily communication.
    In case(假使) you don't think that learning how to read and use body language is important, here are some numbers for you. 7% of the information we receive is from what people actually say, and 38% of the information we receive is from the tone(语气) and the speed of their voice; while 55% of the information we receive is from their body language.
    These non-verbal(非口头的) signals will help you a lot, but you still need to focus on what people are saying. If you focus too much on their body language signals, you and the person may feel uncomfortable. It is useful to be able to read people's body language, but it is useful to learn how to send the right signals and avoid the wrong signals too. Body language may be given several interpretations. Many signals have different meanings, depending on the person and the situation. Be sure of it when you are trying to read a body language signal.

The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and TV, telephone and so on. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has also brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution (污染). Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad to all living things in the world. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal (煤) in houses and factories in the city.
The pollution of SO2 is now the most dangerous problem of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.

    These days, many students like playing 3D games. Do you know what 3D games are like? In most 3D games, game players need to control (控制) a character. The character can be a robot or a soldier (士兵). Game players usually use the mouse to make the character move around in his own world. Game players can find things such as food and weapons (武器) to help them go on with the game. The character can go straight, sit down, turn left, turn right or pick up things in the game.
    Some 3D games have many levels (等级). The character needs to finish different goals for each level.Game players can play against their computers, and sometimes they can play with other players on-line. It's great fun to play 3D games. But playing 3D games for long is not good for our study.