I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence (吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.
At the first home, the son of the deceased (已故的) woman said to me, “If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow , she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”
You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe that the opposite course — keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation — would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?
There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.
The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.
A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.The author had to hold the two women’s funerals probably because .
| A．he wanted to comfort the two families | B．he was an official from the community |
| C．he had great pity for the deceased | D．he was priest of the local church |
People feel guilty for the deaths of their loved ones because .
| A．they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow |
| B．they believe that they were responsible |
| C．they had neglected the natural course of events |
| D．they didn’t know things often turn out in the opposite direction |
According to the passage, the underlined part in paragraph 4 probably means that .
| A．everything in the world is predetermined |
| B．the world can be interpreted in different ways |
| C．there’s an explanation for everything in the world |
| D．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Life and death is an unsolved mystery. |
| B．Every story should have a happy ending. |
| C．Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault. |
| D．In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away . |
If you have decided to take some English courses in the UK, there are some exams that you have to take to determine which classes you should be taking. The first exam that you have to take is the Key English Test, which determines how well you can handle speaking English on a day-to-day basis along with written English skills.
The KET has three parts. They are the basic reading and writing test, the listening exam and the speaking exam. Once you have passed this, you can take the PET exam, which stands for the Preliminary English Test. This test is just for people who already have both basic oral and written skills.
If you can read such items as newspapers, signs, magazines and books, you may be ready to take the next step. Try practicing your writing skills as well and when you think you have good enough writing skills, take this test. There are three sections to this test, the reading, writing and spoken English comprehension skills.
Once you have successfully passed the PET test, you can then move on to the more advanced classes and tests, like the FCE, which is the First Certificate Exam. This exam is harder and more advanced than the other tests. If your job depends on English speaking or writing, then this test is a must to pass. You will need to have passed the last two tests in order to take this one. You will also need to have more of a background when it comes to the English language. By passing the FCE, you have showed that your English speaking ability is of high level.
信息要点:
| Details |
|
| The KET (the Key English Test) |
This test contains |
| The PET (the Preliminary English Test) |
This test contains |
(the First Certificate Exam) |
This exam is |
认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
（注意：每空填1个单词。）
Interviewing someone for a job is not as easy as it looks. First, as the interviewer, you’re tasked with finding the person who will not only do the job well but also fit in well with the other employees.
You have to make an evaluation of abstract qualities that can’t be found on a résumé. Because you have to repeat the process for every potential employee, you end up asking question after question, applicant after applicant.
Still, interviewers need to be told something: “What is your biggest weakness?” is not a good question. It just isn’t.
Now, job seekers have to understand that interviewers want to find some way to know what makes an applicant different from others. Asking questions that are seemingly impossible to answer is one way to see who can think creatively. Then what may be a proper way to respond to such a question?
Honesty, with a twist（新手法）
“‘What are your three strengths and three weaknesses?’ is a classic, but not too many people know how to answer this,” says Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO of WebiMax, an online marketing company.
“As an interviewer, we want to hear strengths that describe initiative（主动性）, motivation and dedication. The best way to respond is to include these qualities into specific ‘personal statements.’”
“Similarly, weaknesses should be positioned as a strength that can benefit the employer.”
“I like to hear applicants state an exaggerated strength, and put an interesting twist on it. An example of this is, ‘My initiative is so strong, that sometimes I take on too many projects at a time.’”
This answer leads with a strength that employers want —initiative —and still acknowledges that you’re not perfect.
Although you might consider this acknowledgement too honest, it works because it proves you’re being honest.
Honesty, with progress
When you consider what your weaknesses are, think about how you have attempted to overcome them. No one is perfect, so pretending that you are a perfectionist will come across as insincere.
Debra Davenport, author of “Career Shuffle,” believes citing(引用) examples are the best approach.
“My preferred response for this question is to tell the truth without damaging the applicant’s image.” Davenport explains.
“A better response might be, ‘I’ve had some challenges with work-life balance in the past and I realize that a life out of balance isn’t good for me, my family or my employer. I’ve taken the time to learn better time and project management, and I’m also committed to my overall wellness.’”
The answer adds some dimension to the question, and proves you’ve thought beyond the answer. You’ve actually changed your behavior to address the situation, even if you haven’t completely overcome the weakness.
Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes
However you decide to answer, Debra Yergen, author of “Creating Job Security Resource Guide,” recommends job seekers imagine themselves sitting on the other side of the desk.
“If you were doing the hiring, what would you be looking for? What would be your motivation for asking certain questions? Who would you be trying to weed out? If you can empathize (共鸣) with the interviewer, you can better understand what they want and need, and then frame your qualifications to meet their needs for the position you seek.”
Once you consider what the goal of the question is and figure out what your honest answer is, yo
u’ll be able to give the best possible answer to 
a tricky question.
| Job Interviews |
|
| Tasks for a job interviewer |
☆ Find the person both doing the job well and ☆ |
| ☆ Understand that the interviewers want to ☆ Be ☆ Never ☆Try to show that you’ve changed a lot ☆ Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes and have a better of their needs for the job. |
|
| Conclusion |
☆ With the goal of the question |
CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (心肺复苏). It forces air into the lungs and pumps(用泵抽) blood and oxygen to the brain in order to increase the chances that a person whose heart stops will survive. It increases the chances that he or she will suffer little or no brain damage.
The American Heart Association suggests two ways to perform CPR. One combines the use of hands to pump the victim’s chest with rescue breathing. The other method is called “Hands-Only CPR”, which is for people who are unwilling or unable to perform rescue breathing. Some people fear infection(感染). Others say they are afraid of making the patient worse.
But the American Heart Association strongly asks people in contact with a victim(受害者) to take action and tells how to take it. It says you can recognize a person needing CPR. He or she is unconscious(无意识) -- unable to communicate or react to surroundings or speech. His or her skin has lost color. The person is not breathing. If such conditions describe the situation, chances are the heart has stopped beating.
You should act by calling for help, or sending someone else. Even if you cannot do mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, you can perform Hands-Only CPR. You can do chest compressions(压迫) that help to keep blood flowing to the brain and the heart. To perform the compressions, place one hand over the other and press firmly on the center of the victim’s chest. Push down about five centimeters. Aim for one hundred compressions each minute.
Doctor Sayre suggests that medical workers do both the breathing method and chest compressions as usual. He says some victims, including babies, need the mouth-to-mouth breathing with the compressions. Still, the doctor says it is better to do just chest compressions than to do nothing. 
A very old tree had been growing quite slowly for many years. It was nearly the 1 tree in the forest, and it raised its head high above the 2 trees towards the sky like a king of trees.
One spring day, the wind brought a little seed and dropped it 3the roots of the tree. Soon it grew into a plant. “I’ll climb to the top of the tree,” said 4 little plant. “They’ll see how quickly I can grow.” So it held tightly to the tree, climbed and climbed 5it climbed up to the top branch. It said to the tree, “You have grown for a great many years, and I only began this summer – see 6 high I have got!”
But the old tree just said nothing at all. Later, a great storm came, bringing snow and heavy winds. The old tree did n’t mind the cold at all, but the poor little plant had grown so fast 7 it had forgotten to grow well. 8 that cold night it fell onto the ground. And that was the end of the little plant.
Since every coin has two sides, living in large modern cities offers us many advantages, meanwhile, causes many troubles. Better education and better jobs are easy to get, and better medical care is convenient to receive in large modern cities.
People are usually well informed due to the advanced media, such as television, newspaper and net PC. Large modern cities also provide various night-life activities for the city-dwellers(城市居民). The public places like cinema, bar, disco-ball are everywhere.
On the other hand, large modern cities are too big to control, so the traffic jams and traffic accidents often happen, and the social security is a headache problem. And city-dwellers have to face the housing problem. Usually a house is too expensive for the salary earning class to buy and the rent is also high. Moreover, noise and pollution in large cities bring harm to people’s health.
Living in large modern cities
Advantages |
● It’s easy to get better education, better jobs and 53._________. ● People are usually 54.______________ because of the advanced media. ● People can have various night-life activities in modern cities. |
55.___________ |
● The society is not 56. ___________. ● Citizens have to face the housing problem. ● Noise and pollution in large cities 57. __________ people’s health. |