Throughout our childhood our parents taught us to say “thank you” and it has become a habit — something we say automatically (自动地), along with “please”. And because of this we have forgotten just how important gratitude is and how essential it is in leading fulfilled (感到满足的) lives.
Just for a minute, think of all the things you are grateful for, such as loving friends, good health, great holidays as well as everyday items such as a comfortable home, TV, and clean water. The list, in fact, could go on and on.
Now focus on events that have made you angry — it’s raining, the car won’t start, and a colleague (同事) makes you annoyed. You start to feel unhappy, and that is something that certainly does not make you feel good！
In fact, we have the ability to choose how we feel — it’s just our perception (认识) of how things are. But for most of us, it just doesn’t seem easy.
Let me give you an example: it’s a rainy day, and immediately most people will start to complain, telling everyone who will listen what a miserable day it is, with the result that they end up feeling miserable themselves. But look at it another way and despite wet clothes and hair, both will dry perfectly well and no lasting harm has been done. And in addition to this, because of rain, we not only live in a green and beautiful landscape, we are also able to grow a lot of fruit and vegetables.
There really is no obvious reason for feeling miserable — in fact there is a great deal to be grateful for. It all depends on what we think about things.
Realize what a difference having gratitude can make to your life. That’s why gratitude is so special — use it to feel good!
68. What do we usually do automatically according to the author?
A. Focus on good things. B. Prefer to feel good.
C. Express thanks orally. D. Take many things for granted.
69. By the example in the fifth paragraph, the author advises us to _____.
A. see things in a different way B. refuse the unchangeable things
C. ignore the harm bad weather does D. listen to others’ complaints patiently
70. By writing the passage, the author mainly wants to tell us _____.
A. to think twice before we act
B. to be grateful for what we have
C. it is no use making complaints
D. saying “thank you” has many disadvantages
We’ve considered several ways of paying to cut in line: hiring line standers, buying tickets from scalpers (票贩子), or purchasing line-cutting privileges directly from, say, an airline or an amusement park. Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service).
Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things, and each is appropriate to different activities. The morals of the queue, “First come, first served, have an egalitarian (平等主义的) appeal. They tell us to ignore privilege, power, and deep pockets.
The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops. But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions. If I put my house up for sale, I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along, simply because it’s the first. Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities, properly governed by different standards.
Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply. Think of the recorded message you hear, played over and over, as you wait on hold when calling your bank: “Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.” This is essential for the morals of the queue. It’s as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.
But don’t take the recorded message too seriously. Today, some people’s calls are answered faster than others. Call center technology enables companies to “score” incoming calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places. You might call this telephonic queue jumping.
Of course, markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things. Some goods we distribute by merit, others by need, still others by chance. However, the tendency of markets to replace queues, and other non-market ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore. It is striking that most of the paid queue-jumping schemes we’ve considered—at airports and amusement parks, in call centers, doctors’ offices, and national parks—are recent developments, scarcely imaginable three decades ago. The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern, but these are not the only places that markets have entered.According to the author, which of the following seems governed by the principle “First come, first served”?
| A．Taking buses. | B．Buying houses. |
| C．Flying with an airline. | D．Visiting amusement parks. |
The example of the recorded message in Paragraphs 4 and 5 illustrates ______.
| A．the necessity of patience in queuing |
| B．the advantage of modern technology |
| C．the uncertainty of allocation principle |
| D．the fairness of telephonic services |
The passage is meant to ______.
| A．justify paying for faster services |
| B．discuss the morals of allocating things |
| C．analyze the reason for standing in line |
| D．criticize the behavior of queue jumping |
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 Guest ServicesFront Gate Guest Services can help you with anything from finding out what time your favourite show starts to purchasing tickets. The Guest Services location inside Front Gate also serves as a message centre, lost children's area and lost and found. Canada's Wonderland does not offer personalized public paging (传呼). |
 Food & Drink OptionsShops are located throughout Canada's Wonderland. Picnic baskets and coolers are welcome at the shelter located outside Wonderland on the north side of our Front Gate. Outside food and drinks are not allowed in the park. Bottled water may be brought into the Park. |
 ATMsATMs are located just inside the Park beside Stroller, Locker and Wheelchair Rentals at the Front Gate, as well as KidZville (beside Guest Services), Splash Works (two locations), and outside Thunder Run. |
 Pet CareA pet care facility is located outside our Front Gate on the south side for a daily fee. Water and air-conditioned shelters are provided. Guests are asked to provide food and exercise. |
 First AidIf you need medical assistance, tell any park employee who will call First Aid and have them come to your location. |
 Stroller, Locker and Wheelchair RentalsStroller, locker and wheelchair rentals are available inside the Park at the Front Gate, beside Thrills Are Wonderland. |
 HIQ Smoking PolicySmoking is not permitted while riding or standing in line for rides or in any of the children's areas or the Water Park. Smoking is permitted in designated (指定的) areas only. |
Failure to observe all Park rules could result in being driven out of the Park without refund. |
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The leaflet is to inform visitors of the Park's.
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A visitor to the Park can.
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Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain's owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy's restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers' speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover (营业额) .
These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated.
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Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?
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What does the underlined word "them" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
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For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?
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The TV ads of Sparrow.
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What was Pearson's achievement as a CEO?
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You can't always predict a heavy rain or remember your umbrella. But designer Mikhail Belvacv doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out should result in you getting wet. That's why he created lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain sensing umbrella.
The designer says he come up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. "once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street and saw the street lamps lighting up people trying to hide from the rain. I thought it would be appropriate to have a canopy(伞蓬)built into a street lamp." he said.
The lampbrella is a standard-looking street lamp fitted with an umbrella canopy. It has a built-in electric motor which can open or close the umbrella on demand. Sensors(传感器)then ensure that the umbrella offers pedestrians shelter whenever it starts raining.
In addition to the rain sensor, there's also a 360°motion sensor on the biberglass street lamp which detects whether anyone's using the lampbrella. After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed.
According to the designer, the lampbrella would move at a relatively low speed, so as not to cause harm to the pedestrians. Besides, it would be grounded to protect from possible lighting strike. Each lampbrella would offer enough shelter for several people. Being installed at 2 meters off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest of pedestrians.
While there are no plans to take lampbrella into production, Belyacv says he recently introduced his creation one Moscow Department, and insists this creation could be installed on any street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide shelter.
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For what purpose did Belyacv create the lampbrella?
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What do we know from Belyacv's words in Paragraph 2?
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Which of the following show how the lampbrella works?
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What does paragraph 5 mainly tell us about the lampbrella?
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| 5． |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
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George Gershwin, born in 1998, was one of America's greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs.
Many of Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way - from jazz to country.
In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.
In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition (作曲)with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics (评论家)were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works.
George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written.
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Many of Gershwin's musical works were.
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What do we know about the concert organized by Whiteman?
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What did Gershwin do during his stay in Paris?
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| 4． |
What do we learn from the last paragraph?
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| 5． |
Which of the following best describes Gershwin?
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