Nearly everyone is shy in some ways. If shyness is making you uncomfortable, it may be time for a few lessons in self-confidence. You can build your confidence by following some suggestions from doctors and psychologists.
Make a decision not to hold back in conversations. What you have to say is just as important as what other people say. And don’t turn down party invitations just because of your shyness.
Prepare yourself for being with others in groups. Make a list of the good qualities you have. Then make a list of ideas, experiences, and skills you would like to share with other people. Think about what you would like to say in advance. Then say it.
If you start feeling self-conscious in a group, take a deep breath and focus your attention on other people. Remember, you are not alone. Other people are concerned about the impression they are making, too.
No one ever gets over being shy completely, but most people do learn to live with their shyness. Even entertainers admit that they often feel shy. They work at fighting their shy feelings so that they can face the cameras and the public. Just making the effort to control shyness can have many rewards. But perhaps the best reason to fight shyness is to give other people a chance to know more about you.
15.The main purpose of the article is to ________.
A. explain how shyness developed
B. prove that shyness can overcome
C. persuade readers that shyness is natural
D. recommend ways of dealing with shyness
16.Which of these can you conclude from reading the article?
A. The attempt to overcome shyness is always worthwhile.
B. Entertainers choose their work to fight shyness.
C. The attempt to overcome shyness is always successful.
D. Shy people never have any fen.
17.What is the source of the suggestions for fighting shyness?
A. The author of the article. B. Shy men and women.
C.Popular entertainers. D. doctors and psychologists.
18. Where would this article probably appear?
A. On the front page of a newspaper. B. In a popular magazine.
C. In a science textbook. D. In an encyclopedia(百科全书)。
C
Once when I was nine, I came down with a horrible case of tonsillitis (扁桃腺炎).I remember going to the doctor, feeling miserable and scared, but also knowing that this man would somehow fix me.As he declared his conclusion regarding my illness, he asked my mother “Is your daughter allergic (过敏的) to any medicine? ”My mom hesitated for a moment, while I was looking at her questioningly.Was I allergic to anything?What if I was?What would happen to me?My mother said no.
That evening after taking my pill, I began to shake uncontrollably.I complained of a terrible headache and continued shaking as my mother held me.She didn’t seem very concerned, yet I believed I was allergic to the pill.Before I fell asleep that night, I told my mom the medicine had made me sick and I wouldn’t take it anymore. The next morning, my mother had me drink a tall glass of iced tea that tasted funny.Later that afternoon, my mom asked me how I felt.I told her I was doing much better, and that was when she dropped the bomb on me.She told me she had mixed my ice tea that morning with my medicine.Guess what, no allergic reaction.I was never allergic to the pills, but my powerful subconscious (潜意识的) mind, accepted a mere suggestion by the doctor that I might be, and my body acted accordingly.
Most of us have no idea how powerful our minds are, and how incoming information continually affects our experience.When I took that pill, it had a negative effect on my mind. Researchers are finding more and more evidence that what we believe, or expect to happen medically, has a deep effect on what actually does happen.
In some medical trials, the patients never took any medicine, only sugar pills, but were told they had been given expensive medicine, and their conditions improved anyway.They simply believed they would get better.On the other side of the coin, people who believe they are going to die in an operation have a higher death rate than people who don’t.
What we expect often tends to get realized. The power of your mind to heal your body is absolutely fantastic.Take care in what information you choose to believe about your health and well-being.Think positively about your outcome in medical situations and allow your power of belief to help you heal.
49. The girl shook uncontrollably that evening because she _______.
A. had a horrible case of tonsillitis at the time
B. was allergic to the medicine she had taken
C. imagined the medicine was doing its harm
D. wanted to cheat her mother for more concern
50. The underlined “ she dropped the bomb on me ” can be understood as “ _______ ”.
A. she told me the truth that awakened me
B. she beat me like a plane dropping a bomb
C. she scolded me with heart-breaking words
D. she hurt my pride by telling me the truth
51. We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. most people believe our minds can function powerfully
B. it’s harmful to our health to take in negative information
C. the powerful subconscious mind can cure all diseases
D. sugar pills with proper mind are as good as costly medicine
52. The passage is mainly about _______.
A. a nine-year-old girl’s experienceB. people being allergic to medicine
C. a fantastic way to treat diseasesD. the effect of the mind on the result
B
Crashing a state dinner at the White House without any invitation apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of courage.
The Washington Post first reported that a couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, not on the official guest list, managed to slip into the state dinner at the White House on Nov. 24, 2009. The dinner was held to honor Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to the Post, the uninvited guests had stayed in the same place with the Obamas and other important figures.
The U. S. Secret Service learned about the security breach (破坏) on Wednesday only after the couple boasted online about having attended the state dinner. One of the many photos from the dinner posted on her blog shows the couple with the smiling Vice President Joe Biden.
The White House has asked the Secret Service for a full review of what happened. “ The Secret Service is looking into its security procedures after determining that. ” Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. “ An initial (初步的) finding has identified that one of our checkpoints did not follow proper procedures to ensure that the two individuals were on the invited guests list,” Donovan said. But he also said President Obama was never in any danger as well as the others at the dinner, because all the party attenders went through the security screening for weapons as there were more than three hundred people invited. “ But we do not rely on just magnetometers (检测仪) or the level of screenings, ” he added. “ That’s why we have the guards with our protectees at all times ”.
The following are more reactions to this incident:
* One senator thought authorities ought to pursue criminal charges against the couple and such behavior should be strongly discouraged.
* “ There is no need of legal help for the couple, as they just went to a party. They didn’t do anything wrong,” a lawyer expressed his opinion on this eye-catching security breach.
* Evan Botny, a current affair commentator, on Sunday said his concern was about the long-term effect on U.S. security, so it should be regarded more than a laughing matter.
* Meanwhile, a TV executive added that the couple’s attempt might be focused on money, as they
were offering interviews to networks on their experience.
45. The U. S. Secret Service got to know the incident because of _______.
A. the news from the Washington Post
B. the announcement of some important figures
C. the couple’s boasting on the internet
D. the report of the Secret Service spokesman
46. In paragraph 4, the spokesman thinks _______.
A. the security procedures are very efficient
B. such incidents could be very easily avoided
C. the secret service needn’t be improved at all
D. the incident came as a surprise with no harm
47. According to the passage, the couple did so in order to _______.
A. enjoy a state dinner B. take some photos
C. become famous D. visit the White House
48. From the reactions, who believes the Secret Service rather than the couple is to blame?
A. A senatorB. A news commentator
C. A lawyerD. A TV executive
第二部分阅读理解:(共两节, 满分50分)
Ⅲ. 第一节(共20小题; 每小题2分, 满分40分)阅读下列短文, 从每题后面所给的选项
(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。
A
We may encounter various setbacks (挫折) in our life and these setbacks may never repeat themselves. They appear differently in different periods of life.
Students may have problems in learning, for example, the goal and motivation of learning, the method and attitude of study, and their school performances as well. If they fail to deal with these matters properly, they may have problems in study and even develop psychological problems.
Job-hunting, career choosing, capability and unemployment are matters often leading to
psychological problems of the contemporaries (当代人). How to choose a career, how to make a plan for life and how to keep competence in position and for promotion, etc., these are all factors to bring us worries and anxieties.
Interpersonal relationship leads to one of the major psychological setbacks of the human being. The symptoms show that it is hard to get along with others, lacking necessary skills to communicate with others. These may lead to sad feelings of loneliness, bitterness, short of concerns and cares.
The old often suffer from supersession of the old by the new, stepping down from leading positions, retirement, being isolated and helpless. How to look at these rules of law in life, get used to the change, handle domestic emptiness when children grow up and the bitterness facing death of the beloved, all these have to be dealt with properly, to avoid the development of depression and disease.
Now, it comes to the key — how to handle them.
Keeping a good mood:
Do not make your ambitions too high and never seek for perfection when doing things.
Do not expect too much from others. Otherwise, you will be disappointed if she/he fails to meet your expectation.
When angry, you’d better calm yourself so as to avoid doing something stupid.
Be tolerating and forgiving. Toleration and forgiveness can either smooth your own mood or benefit interpersonal relationship.
When you encounter setbacks you’d better leave it alone and begin to do something you like, for example, go to the theater or take exercise, etc.
You may ease yourself by telling your unhappiness to your good friends, parents, teachers or even making a telephone call to psychological hotlines.
Do something good for others. In this way, you will not only forget your worries but also find your own value and at the same time make friends with others.
To evaluate your ability and role properly, thus you will not develop unnecessary psychological pressure on yourself.
41. The writer is mainly trying to tell us _______.
A. who knows about setbacksB. how to deal with setbacks
C. when we have setbacksD. what causes various setbacks
42. Setbacks may result from the following EXCEPT _______.
A. learning problems at schoolB. weak competence in career
C. poor skills in communicationD. the rules of law in life
43. Guess the right meaning of the underlined word “supersession”.
A. depressionB. replacement
C. lonelinessD. emptiness
44. From the “key” given by the writer, we can infer that _______.
A. anger can be turned into useful power
B. those without ambitions are the happiest
C. psychological problems can be solved by yourself
D. doing something good for others adds to your worries
(D)
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have.It’s likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen will have a washing machine and a microwave oven.Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for.Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world.They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes.Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting_is one of them.
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz.They used to work in central London.He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank.They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs (郊区), leaving their two children with a nanny(保姆).Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings.They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales.“I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift.It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it.We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays.However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”
Liz, however, is not quite sure.“I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours.I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals.One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children.My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”
68.What do the first two paragraphs tell us?
A.People seldom work long hours to make money.
B.People hardly buy more things than necessary.
C.People are sure everything they own is in the right place.
D.People realize more is involved in life than just making money.
69.Daniel agrees that the move to the farm __________.
A.was easy to organize B.has improved family life
C.was extremely expensive D.has been a total success
70.The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph means ________.
A.repairing your car by yourself
B.spending money carefully
C.moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D.living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week
(C)
Within fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste.The word rubbish could lose its meaning because everything that goes into the dumps would be made into something useful.Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out.The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city.This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish.When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: first, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that grounders and rollers break up everything that can be broken.Finally the rubbish will pass under magnets, which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full scale giant recycling plants are, perhaps, fifteen years away.Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.
64.The main purpose of the passage is ____.
A.to show us a future way of recycling wastes
B.to tell the importance of recycling wastes
C.to warn people the danger of some wastes
D.to introduce a new recycling plant
65.What is the main reason for big cities building their own recycling plants?
A.To deal with wastes in a better way.
B.It’s a good way to gain profits.
C.It’s more economical than to dump wastes in some distant places.
D.Energy can be got at a lower price.
66.The first full-scale huge recycling plants ____.
A.have been in existence for 15 years B.takes 15 years to build
C.can’t be built until 15 years later D.will remain functioning for 15 years
67.Which of the following statements is true?
A.The word “rubbish” will soon disappear from dictionaries.
B.Dangerous wastes can be recycled into nothing but energy.
C.To recycle paper and rubber will still be impossible even with the new recycling methods.
D.Big cities will soon have their own recycling plants.