C
Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in1954.
What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who does not know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learned swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not.
Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on hour keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam if the operator typed too fast.
These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers a direct command to your nervous system.
I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes were slippery, slimy (黏糊糊的) and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.
Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change.
51. In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim he will drown because _________.
A. he is afraid of water B. he doesn’t want to live in the world
C. he hasn’t learned to swim before D. he believes he will drown
52. The author thinks that the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to _________.
A. reduce one’s typing speed B. satisfy the operator
C. save more space D. increase one’s typing speed
53. The author’s experiment shows that __________.
A. snakes in India aren’t poisonous B. snakes can be caught easily
C. snakes are slimy and poisonous D. snakes are dry and clean
54. According to the passage, we know that ________.
A. students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life
B. an animal who has not learned to swim will drown if you put it in a pond.
C. Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes.
D. most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard
55. The main idea of this passage should be that _______.
A. beliefs make us seem stupid
B. beliefs are very powerful
C. changing your beliefs now if necessary
D. people should always believe in themselves
“I stepped out and was flabbergasted,” local journalist Bahram Baloch told the BBC. “I could see this gray, dome-shaped (圆顶形的) body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
This island has become a global curiosity. How was it formed in just a few minutes?
As you might already know, many islands in the sea are formed by volcanoes. There are numerous volcanoes under the sea. As the hot lava erupts and cools down, it piles up and forms the shape of a mountain. When the mountain “grows” to higher than the sea level, the part that’s above the water is what we call an “island”.
This is how the island was formed after the Pakistan earthquake, except that instead of a regular volcano, it was a “mud volcano” that brought about this island. Lava is not the only thing that’s locked under the Earth’s crust — there is also gas. When an earthquake happens and breaks part of the crust, the gas is released at an extremely high speed, pushing mud up to the surface, according to National Geographic.
But only earthquakes that are extremely powerful can cause mud volcanoes to push up enough mud to produce islands — and this 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan was strong enough. The island is about 20 meters high, up to about 90 meters wide and 30 meters long, nearly the size of a soccer field.
In fact, mud volcano islands aren’t new. This is the fourth island of this kind in the region since 1945. But those islands usually didn’t last long.
“It will probably be gone within a couple of months,” said Bill Barnhart, a researcher with the US Geological Survey. After all, “it’s just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up”.What is the article mainly about?
| A．The disastrous effects of coastal earthquakes. |
| B．The difference between mud volcanoes and regular volcanoes. |
| C．How islands are formed by mud volcanoes. |
| D．The great natural wonders of Pakistan. |
The underlined word “flabbergasted” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．surprised | B．disappointed | C．worried | D．curious |
We can infer from the article that __________.
| A．the new island near the coast of Pakistan actually took a few months to form |
| B．scientists still know little about different types of volcanoes |
| C．another earthquake is likely to happen in Pakistan within a couple of months |
| D．not all volcanoes change the geological appearance of the Earth |
According to the article, islands formed by mud volcanoes __________.
| A．are quite difficult to locate |
| B．usually disappear after a short period of time |
| C．are formed by hot lava from volcanoes |
| D．used to be part of the Earth’s crust |
A
Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?
When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen.
At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.
Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.
I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories — I just live, and the memories form themselves.Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of __________.
| A．observing her school routine |
| B．expressing her satisfaction |
| C．impressing her classmates |
| D．preserving her history |
What does the author put in her diary now?
| A．Notes and beautiful pictures. |
| B．Special thoughts and feelings. |
| C．Detailed accounts of daily activities. |
| D．Descriptions of unforgettable events. |
The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is __________.
| A．to experience it |
| B．to live the present in the future |
| C．to make memories |
| D．to give accurate representations of it |
Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．
However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?
| A．How the human beings survived in the Ice Age． |
| B．What the situation was like during the Ice Age． |
| C．What caused the Ice Age to come to an end． |
| D．Why the Ice Age was very important． |
To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．
| A．stop developing any longer |
| B．reduce the overuse of natural resources |
| C．stop the global warming and using natural resources |
| D．save more animals in case they all die out |
Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?
| A．A very developed culture came into being． |
| B．New technologies have been developed． |
| C．Natural resources have been used up． |
| D．Human activities have done damage to the balance of nature． |
Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?
| A．Natural Environment Should Be Protected． |
| B．The Success of Cultural Adaptation Is Not Permanent． |
| C．The Global Population Is Increasing Since Ice Age． |
| D．Human Beings Are Capable of Surviving on Earth. |
While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail miserably often flourish (繁荣) more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.
“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”
Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the Atlantis flight last year, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.
The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.
“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”
Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?
| A．Because it worked perfectly. |
| B．Because the right booster was still OK. |
| C．Because nothing serious happened then. |
| D．Because fewer people died in the flight. |
Fewer accidents happen to older airlines in that ________.
| A．their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky |
| B．they gained much from experience in failure |
| C．their planes were often checked by the experts |
| D．they were unpopular among passengers |
The passage is written mainly to ________.
| A．show failure is a better teacher than success |
| B．explain why Challenger failed |
| C．introduce something about Prof Desai |
| D．tell managers how to achieve success |
Which writing strategy is NOT used in developing the passage?
| A．Giving definitions. | B．Making comparisons. |
| C．Analyzing causes. | D．Providing different examples. |
Wanted
Project Management Assistant
Responsibility:
Provide service for the project in Chongqing.
Provide assistance to the project manager for everyday work.
Responsible for file management, customer service for students & parents.
Requirements:
College degree and above.
Good English and computer skill.
Related working experience in an international organization.
Patient, careful, supportive. Have strong team work spirit.
English Teacher
Responsibility:
Conduct English teaching according to British education system.
Requirements:
University degree and above in English major or normal English.
Eager to learn and open-minded with creativity.
With deep understanding for different cultures.
(Warmly welcome the fresh graduates to apply for this position.)
Marketing Assistant
Responsibility:
Responsible for the local management of marketing & sales activities according to the instructions from the head office.
Collect related information to the head office.
Develop relationship with local media and customers.
Requirements:
College degree and above with good English (speaking & writing).
With basic idea of sales and marketing, related experience is preferred.
Working experience in the international organizations is a must.
Good communication and presentation skills
Accountant
Responsibility:
Accountant work for Chongqing office and project.
Perform the finance management locally according to the rules & policy of the company.
Requirements:
College degree and above in finance area.
Good English and good computer skill.
Have sense of finance management.
At least 2 years’ experience as an accountant in an international organization is a must.
Self-management, hardworking, independent and able to deal with pressure.
You can go to http:// www. 51job.com for more information.
Please mail or fax your resume (both in English & Chinese), diploma, training certificates and expected salary to the following address within two weeks. No personal visit or telephone call before that. Your materials will be kept in ACE files.
Add: Room 1806 Plaza Building Yuzhong District Chongqing 40010
Fax No: 023- 63728428
Email: acercq @ cta.cq.cnIf you have just graduated from a university, you should apply for the position as _______.
| A．a project management assistant | B．an accountant |
| C．a marketing assistant | D．an English teacher |
If you want to get the position as the project management assistant, in your resume you’d better say ___________.
| A．you always have new ideas and can’t wait to see them realized |
| B．you can decide everything for yourself and have your plan carried out |
| C．you are good at persuading others to follow you and becoming a good leader |
| D．you are always ready to listen and help carry out good decisions |
If you want to apply for a position, you can _________.
| A．go to the company or make a telephone call at any time |
| B．tell the company how much money you want for your position |
| C．go to acercq @ cta.cq.cn for the information about the employment |
| D．write about yourself either in English or in Chinese |