Who's in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it's other people-society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we
learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation.”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug－we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一剂毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom－the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot-control what other people think. People have their own agenda(日程安排), and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probable pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way－make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values－not values imposed from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic(真实的), effective, purposeful and happy life.What Oscar Wilde says implies that .
| A．most people's thoughts are controlled by others. |
| B．we have thoughts similar to those of others. |
| C．most people have a variety of thoughts. |
| D．other people's thoughts are more important. |
What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?
| A．The price of taking the drug is freedom. |
| B．Changing opinions may cost us our freedom. |
| C．We may lose ourselves to please others. |
| D．We need to pay for what we want to get. |
It can be concluded from the passage that .
| A．it's important to accept others' opinions. |
| B．it's better to do what we like. |
| C．we shouldn't care what others think. |
D．we shouldn't change our won opinions. |
The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by .
| A．making suggestions. | B．analyzing causes and effects. |
| C．providing examples and facts. | D．discussing questions |
Online Degrees
Today, you can earn a degree from a major university without ever having sat in one of their classrooms. Many colleges and universities are offering online courses and degree programs now.
Online Learning Programs
With a computer and an Internet connection, you can earn a degree from home, work, or anywhere else for that matter. Online degree programs follow much the same routines as traditional learning, with a few twists. There are lectures, but they won't be in person. There are assignments (作业) , but you won't hand them to your instructor. In most situations, you are free to "go to class" when it fits your"schedule. If you get a phone call during class, you don't have to miss anything. If you get sick, you don't have to ask for someone's notes, and you just visit the lecture later.
You'll communicate with your instructor by e-mail, chat room and instant messaging. Your classroom will live in a special software program. Contrary to popular belief, you will have close contact with other students and the instructor.
Evaluating the Program
There are a lot of questions to ask before you make your selection, such as:
How do students interact with each other?
★Online programs can use chat rooms, instant messaging, teleconferencing, and video conferencing to communicate. The key is to find a program that has this interaction built into it and even requires it.
★What kind of reputation does the school have?
It may seem simple-a good school will have a good online program. This reputation,however, may not be as straightforward as you think. It's not uncommon for a great school to have a weak program or two. So you'd better look at the overall quality of the school and make a judgment.
The Employers' View
As more and more employees get online degrees and use them in the workforce(职场) , hiring managers will begin to feel more secure about the quality of education these people have.In which way is online education special?
| A．If you get sick, you'll miss the lecture. |
| B．There are lectures, but you don't need to meet the lecturers. |
| C．If you get a phone call during class, you will miss something. |
| D．There are assignments, and you must hand them to your instructor. |
What is the most important part of online communication?
| A．To use e-mails. |
| B．To look for a program with interaction. |
| C．To use chat rooms and instant messaging. |
| D．To use teleconferencing and video conferencing. |
For whom is the passage probably written?
| A．College students. | B．Hiring managers. |
| C．Adult students. | D．High school students. |
American and British use different greetings. In the USA the commonest greeting is “Hi”. In Britain it is “Hello！” or “How are you？”. “Hi！” is creeping(不知不觉的)into British, too. When they are introduced to someone, the Americans say, “Glad to know you.” The British say, “How do you do？” or “Pleased to meet you.” When Americans say “Goodbye”， they nearly always add, “Have a good day，” or “Have a good trip，” etc. to friends and strangers alike. Britons are already beginning to use “Have a good day”。
The British usually use “got”in the sense of “have”. The Americans hardly ever do.
Am.E: Do you have a car, room，etc.？Yes, I do.
Br.E: Have you got a car, room, etc.? Yes, I have.
Finally, there are a number of differences between American and British English in the spelling of words, e．g.check(US)/cheque(UK); center(US)/centre(UK). Many American words ending in “or”， e．g. honor, vigor, labor are spelt in British English with an “our”， e．g. honour, vigour, labour. Many verbs in American English with “ize”or “izing” forms, e．g. organize, realizing are spelt in Br.E “ise”or “ising”，e.g.organise，realising.In American English, “practice”is used both for the verb and noun.In Br.E, the verb is spelt “practise”， and the noun “practice”. In the main, American English avoids the doubling up of consonants(辅音字母)in nouns and verbs while British English does not.In American English, for example, one writes “travel, traveled, traveling, traveler，” while in British English, one writes “travel, travelled, travelling, traveller”．
It was once predicted that British and American English would became separate languages finally. But the opposite has happened. The links(连接)between the two countries are so strong that linguistically(语言上的), and probably culturally(文化上的)too, they are closer together than ever.The Americans hardly say________.
| A．Goodbye.Have a good day! | B．Glad to know you! |
| C．Hi! | D．Have you got a car? |
A British writes________.
| A．cheque；center | B．honor；organise |
| C．traveled；practice | D．labour；traveller |
What does the fifth paragraph talk about?
| A．There are lots of differences in spelling between Am.E.and Br.E. |
| B．Why do the Americans and the British use different spellings? |
| C．There are few differences in spelling between Am.E.and Br.E. |
| D．The different usages of words in Am.E and Br.E |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The two languages will become separate languages. |
| B．American English will be used more and more. |
| C．The two languages will be closer and closer. |
| D．British English will be used more and more. |
Body and Food
Your body, which has close relations with the food you eat, is the most important thing you own, so it needs proper treatment and proper nourishment (营养).The old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”is not as silly as some people think. The body needs fruit and vegetables because they contain vitamin C. Many people take extra vitamins in pill form, believing that these will make them healthy.
But a good diet is made up of nourishing food and this gives all the vitamins you need. The body doesn’t need or use extra vitamins, so why waste money on them?
In the modern western world, many people are too busy to bother about eating properly. They throw anything into their stomachs, eating hurriedly and carelessly. The list of illnesses caused or made worse by bad eating habits is frightening,“Your body has close relations with the food you eat.” It really means that ______.
| A．all kinds of food you eat can be made into your body |
| B．your body is made up of the food you eat |
| C．what you eat has great effect on your health |
| D．the more you eat, the fitter you will feel |
The old saying referred to in the passage tells us that ______.
| A．eating apples regularly does lots of good to our health |
| B．the apple is the best among all kinds of fruits |
| C．apples can take the place of doctors |
| D．an apple is a sure cure for illness |
In the modern western countries ______.
| A．people don‘t want to pay more attention to their eating |
| B．lots of people’s illnesses are caused or made worse by bad eating habits |
| C．people throw everything into their stomachs without chewing |
| D．people are only too busy to cook meals for themselves |
From the passage we can draw a conclusion that if we want to keep healthy,we should ______.
| A．only eat an apple a day |
| B．eat properly |
| C．take as many vitamin pills as possible |
| D．throw something into our stomachs slowly and carefully |
Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
| A．They thought spinach made them strong. |
| B．They thought Popeye was funny. |
| C．Spinach had a lot of iron. |
| D．People liked folic acid. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
| A．made Popeye strong |
| B．was a green vegetable |
| C．had less iron than other green vegetables |
| D．had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
| A．iron | B．folic acid | C．spinach | D．exercise |
Folic acid is ______.
| A．something in food | B．a vegetable | C．dangerous | D．a certain kind of spinach |
Everyone wants some degree of success. Many people believe that they deserve success simply because they believe that they deserve success.
But there is a widespread belief that people who get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it, but because of influential (有影响的) friends or the right background. Sometimes it may just be a comforting and harmless belief, while at the other extreme it can be very destructive. I once met a brilliant young engineer who worked in a chemical plant. Because of her knowledge and experience, she should have been promoted to Production Manager. Instead, the job went to a man who was totally unsuited for the post. Everyone knew that he only got it because he was politically acceptable to his superiors (上司). This injustice discouraged the young engineer and many of her colleagues. It also meant that the factory was much less efficient than it could have been.
At the same time, we should not be pessimistic (悲观的). More and more the modern world depends on having people who are in the job because they are good enough, not just because their faces fit. There is a story of a factory owner who sent for an engineer to see to a machine which would not go. He examined it, then took out a hammer and tapped, once. The machine started up immediately. When he presented his bill, the owner protested, "This can't be right! $ 100 just for tapping a machine with a hammer?" The engineer wrote out a new bill: "For tapping a machine, $1; for knowing where to tap. $99."The engineer at the chemical plant was not promoted because _____.
| A．it was politically less good for the boss to accept her than the man |
| B．her boss did not think she had the fight qualifications for the job |
| C．the man who got the promotion was more experienced than she was |
| D．it is more difficult for a woman to get a promotion than for her male colleague |
The engineer who repaired the machine was right in charging $ 100 because____.
| A．he hit the machine to get it started again |
| B．the factory owner could not have repaired it himself |
| C．he was charging for his knowledge and expert skills |
| D．he was the only person who could find out what was wrong with it |
What can we learn about the author's attitude toward the widespread belief that "people get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it"?
| A．He quite agrees with it. |
| B．He doesn't express his opinion his opinion at it. |
| C．He completely disagrees with it. |
| D．He doesn't quite agree with it. |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Having influential friends or right background seems helpful sometimes. |
| B．The engineer had good reason to overcharge the factory owner. |
| C．Not all those who are good in their jobs have the chance to be promoted. |
| D．Those who are good in their jobs are still largely needed by the modern society. |