Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs.
Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability. While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the attractive overnight successes was connected more with personal relationships and less to ability than that of the unattractive overnight successes. Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman considered to be more womanish has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualities. This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them. The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
73. The underlined word "liability" most probably means ______.
A. disadvantage B. advantage C. misfortune D. trouble
74. Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ______.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to both men and women
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. slightly affects both men and women
75. It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often ______.
A. practical B. supportive C. old-fashioned D. one-sided
Having returned from her round trip,the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station."The railway owes me£12,"she said to Harry Jenks,the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel.It cost me £12."
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam," he said politely."I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd."
The woman and her little girl followed him inside.She was quite right,as Harry soon discovered.There was no sailing on May 22nd.How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day.Wondering what to do,he smiled at the child."You look sunburnt,"he said to her. "Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
"Yes,"she answered,shyly. "The beach was lovely.And I can swim too!"
"That's fine,"said Harry. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet.Of course,she's only three…"
"I'm four,"the child said proudly. "I'll be four and a half." Harry turned to the mother. "I remember your ticket,Madam,"he said."But you didn't get one for your daughter,did you?"
"Er,well——"the woman looked at the child. "I mean...she hasn't started school yet. She's only four."
"A four-year-old child must have a ticket,Madam.A child's return ticket to Jersey costs…let me see…£13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel,you will owe£1.50. The law is the law,but since the fault was mine…"
The woman stood up,took the child's hand and left the office.
1.Harry was worried because_____________.
A.the woman was angry with him
B.he had not done his work properly
C.the Jersey timetable was wrong
D.the little girl didn't have a return ticket
2.Harry started talking to the little girl_________.
A.because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do
B.because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl
C.because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice
D.when he suddenly readlized that he could find a way out from the litte girl
3.When Harry said,"The law is the law,but since the fault was mine…,"he meant that_________.
A.they must follow it without other choice,even though the fault was his
B.he had to be strict with the woman because of the law, although he didn't want to
C.the woman had to pay him£1.50 and the railway would pay for the hotel
D.she should pay£1.50, but as he had made a mistake,she could go without paying
4.The woman left the office without saying anything because .
A.she wanted to go home and get money for the child's ticket
B.she was so angry that she didn't want to have anything more to do with the young man
C.she was moved by Harry's kindness
D.she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted
Frank W. Woolworth was born in Rodman,New York,in 1852. His family was very poor farmers,and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for displaying goods to arouse people's interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends(小商品)for as much as he could get.Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said: FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards,Woolworth opened his own store,selling goods at five and ten cents.But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is,if you want to make money by selling low-price goods,you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories.Once,for example,Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way,the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1,000 stores in the USA and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules,of which the most important was:"THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT."
1.Frank took a short business course in order to
A.earn more money for his family
B.learn something from a salesman
C.get away from the farm
D.get enough to eat
2.Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because .
A.he knew how to get people to buy his goods
B.he cut down the price by half
C.he had spread the goods on a table in a very nice way
D.the sign he put on the table was well designed
3._________made Woolworth a world-famous man.
A.His business skills and his wealth
B.The low price of the goods he sold
C.His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives
D.His natural skill for displaying things
4.The belief that"The customer is always right"suggests that____________.
A.Whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant,the customer is always right
B.shop assistants should always show respect for and be polite to their customers during business hours
C.stores must always follow the customer's wishes if they want to make more money
D.stores should do their best to meet the customer's needs if they want to be successful
三、阅读理解(4篇短文,选出正确选项,每题2分,共30分)
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know.When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the readers' surprise.
1. People enjoyed reading O. Henry's stories because
A.they had surprise endings.
B.they were easy to understand.
C.they showed his love for the poor.
D.they were about New York City.
2. O. Henry went to prison because
A.people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper.
B.he broke the law by not using his own name.
C.he wanted to write stories about prisoners.
D.people thought he had taken money that was not his.
3. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
A.He was well-educated.
B.He was not serious about his work.
C.He was devoted to the poor.
D.He was very good at learning.
4. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
A.His life inside the prison.
B.The newspaper articles he wrote.
C.The city and people of New York.
D.His exciting early life as a boy.
Once I spoke at a high school. After the speech, I was asked to see a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.
He was Matthew. When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to see five, then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal weight lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles(障碍) and going for my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain(抱怨). He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. He knew what he was talking about. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weight with me.
When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles(障碍) than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion(冠军). You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I got the news that Matthew had died and a letter Matthew had written me a few days before:
Dear Rick,
My mom said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. The doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more. But I still smile as much as I can.
I told you some day I was going to the Olympics and win a gold medal. But I know now I’ll never make it. But I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you.
Thank you for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
1. The boy wished to meet the writer because ________.
A. he wished to take part in the Olympics
B. he admired the author very much
C. he hoped to make friends with the author
D. he enjoyed going in for weighting lifting
2. Which of the statements is TRUE?
A. Matthew was good at weight lifting.
B. Rick had the similar disease as a child.
C. Rick encouraged the boy to become a champion.
D. Matthew never gave up in face of disease.
3. Why did the boy refuse the writer’s medal?
A. He didn’t need Rick’s pity.
B. Rick looked on the medal as the most important thing.
C. The gold medal was very dear to Rick.
D. He thought he was not worthy of it.
4. What can be inferred from Matthew’s letter?
A. Mathew was unhappy before death.
B. Mathew kept in touch with Rick .
C. Mathew sent some pictures to Rick.
D. Mathew got an Olympic gold medal.
During the Second World War, it was difficult to travel by plane, because the
seats were needed for important government officials and army officers. Mr Brown worked for the government during the war and he was doing very secret work. Nobody was allowed to know how important he was except very few people. One day he had to fly to London to give a talk to a few top people there, but an important army officer came to the airport at the last minute. Mr Brown’s seat was given to him, so he was not able to fly to the city to give his talk. When the important army officer reached the city , he found that the man whose seat he had taken was the one whose talk he had flown to hear.
1.Mr Brown was ___________.
A.an army officer B.a bad speaker
C.a government official D.a public speaker
2.Plane tickets were hard to get for _________.
A.ordinary people B.government officials
C.army officers D.secret workers
3.Mr Brown could not take the plane, because _________.
A.his secret work was discovered.
B.he wanted to change for another plane.
C.his seat was given to an important army officer.
D.he was unable to go by air.
4.What did the army officer discover in the end? ________.
A.He had taken a very important person’s seat.
B.Mr Brown’s talk was important
C.Mr Brown didn’t do important secret work
D.Mr Brown was a kind person.