Personal Growth
There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process.
People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外部的，表面的) result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language — all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they gain new experiences and face unexpected difficulties. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to confront (正视) the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we’re shy and indecisive (优柔寡断)? Then we may hesitate, move slowly, and not take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we’re slow to adapt to change or that we’re not smart enough to deal successfully with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.
These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary for us to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal (内部的) fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease (停止) to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would _______.
| A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder |
| B．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements |
| C．face difficulties and take up challenges |
| D．aim high and reach his goal each time |
When the author says “a new way of being”, he is referring to ________.
| A．a new approach to experiencing the world | B．a new way of taking risks |
| C．a new method of understanding ourselves | D．a new system of adapting to change |
For personal growth, the author supports all of the following EXCEPT _______.
| A．curiosity about more chances | B．promptness (迅速) in self-adaptation |
| C．open-mindedness to new experiences | D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts |
The best title for this passage should be _________.
| A．Growth — Product or Process | B．Facing New Challenges |
| C．Two Basic Ways of Growth | D．Overcoming Internal Fears |
Some years ago, a Miami woman walking through an office building noticed two men standing together．Several minutes after her leaving, the men murdered a person working in the building．The police determined that the woman was the only witness and could possibly describe them．However, her memory of the men proved disappointingly unclear．Several days later, psychologist Ronald Fisher was brought in to obtain a more complete account from the woman．His interview produced a breakthrough—the woman reported a clear picture of one of the suspects．The important information enabled the police to arrest the suspect and close the case．
The police asked Fisher for help because o
f his rich knowledge i
n cognitive (认知) interview, a kind of memory-rebuilding process．Memory researchers have found that people trying to remember a past event often only recall part of the relevant information．Human memory is selective and it is often distorted by stress．But a person's accurate recall of an event or understanding of a question can be improved using specific interviewing techniques．The "cognitive interview" was developed in the late 1990s．It encourages the witness to take an active role in recalling information rather than giving answers only to someone else's questions．The witness first describes what happened in his or her own words, with no interviewer interruptions．The interviewer then goes further with specific techniques, such as having the witness tell the details of what happened from different perspectives（角度）.
The cognitive interview focuses on guiding witnesses through four general recalling techniques: thinking about physical surroundings and personal feelings that existed at the time of past events; reporting everything that comes to mind about those events, no matter how broken it is retelling events in a variety of time orders, such as from beginning to end, end to beginning, forward or backward; and adopting different perspectives while recalling events．
Experiments with police detectives trained in this demanding interview method find that they obtain nearly 50% more information from witnesses than before training, while error rates remain about the same．It is proved that cognitive interviews are quite important tools in improving the accuracy and completeness of witness testimony （证词）．
The purpose of the passage is to _____．
| A．give an account of a murder case |
| B．introduce an idea of cognitive interview |
C．prove Fisher was an expert in cognitive int erview |
D．help a witne ss to recall information in a cognitive interview |
What is required to recall in a cognitive interview for a witness?
| A．The exact time at which a murder took place． |
| B．The information about the event in the time order． |
| C．The important things that come to his or her mind． |
| D．The surroundings and feelings at the time of the event． |
The key point in a cognitive interview is that
| A．the witness is encouraged to take part in recalling information |
| B．the interviewer should interrupt the witness from time to time |
| C．the interview should take place outside the police station |
| D．the witness should recall details at the scene of the event |
The underlined word "distorted" in the passage probably means " ____
| A．arranged | B．balanced | C．changed | D．examined |
Dr. Sylvia Earle wants you to stop eating fish. It’s not because fish are endangered, though wild fish stocks in many oceans are very low. It’s not because they’re bad for you, though fish in many areas are exposed to poisonous substances in the water. It’s because they’re smart.
“Fish are sensitive, they have personalities,” says the marine biologist. For Earle, eating a fish would be like eating a dog or a cat. “I would never eat anyone I know personally.”
There’s a lot more to fish than meets the eye: they talk to each other, they like to be touched, and they engage in behavior that can seem very human. They can remember things and 
learn from experience. Earle and a growing number of animal rights activists see the
se as strong arguments against eating fish altogether.
The activists also point out that fish feel pain and fish suffer horribly on their way from the sea to the supermarket. “While it may seem obvious that fish are able to feel pain, like every other animal, some people think of fish as swimming vegetables,” says Dr. Lynne Sneddon. “Really, it’s kind of a moral question. Is the enjoyment you get from fishing (or eating fish) more important than the pain of the fish?”
Fishermen and (fried) fish lovers are doubtful. “I’ve never seen a smart fish,” says Marie Swaringen as she finishes off a plate of fish at a Seattle seafood restaurant. “If they were very smart, they wouldn’t get caught.”
“For years, everyone’s been telling us to eat fish because it’s so good for us,” says another diner. “Now I’ve got to feel guilty while I’m eating my fish? What are they going to think of next? Don’t eat salad because cucumbers have feelings?”
Dr. Sylvia Earle discourage people from eating fish because _____________.
| A．there are not that many wild fish in the ocean |
| B．fish actually are sensitive and have personalities |
| C．some ocean fish contain poisonous substances |
| D．fish are like dogs or cats that people know personally |
We can infer from the passage that _____________.
| A．all people don’t agree with the idea to stop eating fish |
| B．people will be persuaded not to eat fish in the future |
| C．stopping eating fish will lead to people’s not eating vegetables |
| D．we shouldn’t care too much about the feeling of fish |
By saying “There’s a lot more to fish than meets the eye,” the writer means ______.
| A．there are far more fish than other animals in the world |
| B．there are more fish in the world than people can see |
| C．people can see more fish if they pay more attention |
| D．fish are not that simple as they appear to people’s eyes |
What is the writer’s attitude towards people eating fish?
| A．Neutral. | B．Indifferent. | C．Approving. | D．Opposed. |
At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.
We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house – something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.
On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, "What do you want for your new room?" Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, "I just want a bed."
The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.
When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.
That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the d
oorway.
As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, "What is that?"
"A pillow," he replied.
"What do you do with it?" Eric continued to ask.
"When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as he handed Eric the pillow.
"Oh . . . that's soft," he said, hugging it tightly.
Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, "Do you have a pillow?"
We know exactly what he means.
The writer’s first volunteer project was .
| A．working on a poor trailer | B．helping a poor family |
| C．donating beds and bedding | D．dealing with a housing problem |
On hearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because .
| A．the family lived in a trailer | B．he expected to get some toys |
| C．he didn’t know what a bed was | D．the boys had no bed to sleep in |
From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen before.
| A．a trailer | B．a truck | C．a pillow | D．a house |
By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that .
A．what they want to get may be unnecessary |
| B．they should not waste money on small things |
| C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor |
| D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow |
During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P.E and wrote several books. While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing. He was the inventor of basketball.
Dr James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA. One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students. Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside. He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something.
It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea. The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game. It was quite different from the basketball games of today. It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs. Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special “basketballs” through nets.
Although Dr Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game it is today, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became an Olympic sport at the Games in Berlin.
Which of the following things did Dr James Naismith NOT do?
| A．Teach P.E in school. | B．Write some books. |
| C．Work at a hospital. | D．Take part in the Olympic Games. |
In which season did Dr Naismith invent basketball?
| A．Summer. | B．Winter. | C．Spring. | D．Autumn. |
Why is December 21 thought to be the birthday of basketball?
| A．It was on this day that Dr Naismith came up with his idea for basketball. |
| B．It was the day on which Dr Naismith was born. |
| C．It was the day on which Dr Naismith was asked by his boss to invent a new game. |
| D．It was on this day that the first game of basketball was played. |
At the time of Dr Naismith’s death, which of the following was true?
| A．Basketball was already a worldwide game. |
| B．Basketball was played with 9 players on each side. |
| C．Basketball was an Olympic sport. |
| D．Basketball was still played using footballs. |
Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask. But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history. Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history.
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past. I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures. However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history." Perhaps at least in teaching history to my children I can do a small part in changing this.
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context. We cannot even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less (更不必说) try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be.
I teach my children history, for one more reason. I purchased a set of historical audio (录音机) tapes for our children. My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over. It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself. I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished. I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for.
What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
| A．Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past. |
| B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes. |
| C．Many people feel it hard to understand history. |
| D．Many people have no interest in studying history. |
In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because ___________.
| A．it makes the current political situation go smoothly |
| B．it helps us realize the importance of historical events |
| C．it helps us understand why things are the way they are |
| D．it helps people accept the present situation where they live |
What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
| A．How to teach history effectively. |
| B．Some negative reasons for studying history. |
| C．How to get more people to study history. |
| D．Some bad historical figures. |
The main purpose of this passage is to ____________.
| A．inspire the parents to teach their children history |
| B．show the importance of history in politics |
| C．explain the reasons why children study history |
| D．introduce the writer’s own way of teaching history |