Six-year-old Cao Qixian of China set the new women’s world record of solving the 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube in 5.97 seconds at the World Cube Association (WCA) Rubik’s Cube International Open in Singapore in September.

Cao’s average time of 5.97 seconds after five rounds made her win and become the first female (女性) Rubik’s Cube solver to solve it within six seconds. “I like speed cubing,” Cao said. “I have been practicing two to three hours a day every day.”

Cao became interested in solving the Rubik’s Cube four years ago and saw it in her cousin’s class. Having been learning from her cousin for a year, Cao had her own coach and began to work even harder on it. “She was stuck at 12 seconds when she tried to speed to 10 seconds for three months,” Cao’s mother Qian Jingjing said. “She practices a lot but made no progress and almost    △   .” In order to help Cao improve her performance, her whole family began to learn speed cubing. They even joined in adult competitions.

Qian added that practicing speed cubing made her daughter grow more focused (专注的) and calmer (镇静的) when she was dealing with other problems in life. Cao’s next goal is to challenge the women’s single-time record.

1.How often does Cao practice speed cubing?

A Twice a week

B Every day.

C Once a week.

D Once a month.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“I have been practicing two to three hours a day every day.”可知，岂娴平时每天都会练习魔方两三个小时，并且一直都在坚持。故选B。

2.Cao became interested in solving the Rubik’s Cube at the age of_______.

A 2

B 3

C 4

D 5

解析：选A。A数字计算题。根据第一段第一句的“Six-year-old Cao Qixian of China”和第三段第一句的“Cao became interested in solving the Rubik’s Cube four years ago”可知，曹岂娴今年6岁，（6-4=）2岁的时候，她对这个“变幻莫测的方块组合”产生了浓厚的兴趣。故选A。

3.What can be put back into the “ △ ” of Paragraph 3?

A talked back

B checked out

C gave up

D cheered up

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据划线部分前面的“She was stuck at 12 seconds when she tried to speed to 10 seconds for three months”和“She practices a lot but made no progress”可知，12秒进10秒时大概有3个月的瓶颈期。岂娴重复练习，成绩却一直没有进步，她甚至快要放弃了，但是为了激励女儿坚持下去，他们一家人都开始学习魔方。故选C。

4.What does Qian think of practicing speed cubing?

A Difficult.

B Helpful.

C Boring.

D Interesting.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句的“Qian added that practicing speed cubing made her daughter grow more focused and calmer when she was dealing with other problems in life.”可知，妈妈钱晶晶表示练习魔方以后，孩子做事更专注，处理问题时也更加镇定了，因此她认为魔方是有帮助的。故选B。

5.In which part of a newspaper can we read the passage?

A Nature.

B Health.

C Music.

D People.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。本文主要描述了在世界魔方协会举办的魔方国际公开赛上，来自江苏海安的6岁女孩曹岂娴以5秒97的成绩夺冠的相关情况，属于“人物”版块。故选D。