Ifyou’reamaleandyou’rereadingt-优题课

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it．And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is．That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about．It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours．
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand．He told this story about himself．He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23．That was a lot of money in those days．He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City．When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day．When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours．
It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up．The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life．They moved back to an apartment in New York City．
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours．He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories．He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States．“Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you．Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years．
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses．And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world．But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr．Jones always seems to be ahead．
64．Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________．
A．want to be as rich as their neighbours
B．want others to know or to think that they are rich
C．don’t want others to know they are rich
D．want to be happy
65．It can be inferred （推断） from the story that rich people like to ________．
A．live outside New York City B．live in New York city
C．live in apartmentsD．have many neighbours
66．Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is ________．
A．an important name B．a popular name in the United States
C．his neighbour’s name D．not a good name
67．According to the writer, it is ________ to keep up with the Joneses．
A．correct B．interesting C．impossible D．good

第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
As late as 1800, women's only place was in the home．The idea of women in the business world was unthinkable．Men were certain that no woman could do a good job outside her home．This was such a widely accepted idea that when the well-known Bronte sisters began writing books in 1864, they had to sign their books with men's names instead．
Teaching was the first profession（职业）open to women soon after 1800．But even that was not an easy profession for women to enter because most schools and colleges were open only to men．Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to accept women．
Hospital nursing became respectable work for women only after Nightingale became famous．Seeing that she was not only a nurse but also a rich and well-educated woman, people began to believe it was possible for women to nurse the sick and still be “ladies”．Miss Nightingale opened England's first training school for nurses in 1860．
The invention of the typewriter（打字机）in 1867 helped to bring women out of the home and into the business world．By 1900, thousands of women were working at real jobs in schools, hospitals, and offices in both England and America．Some women even managed to become doctors or lawyers．The idea that women could work in the business world had been accepted．
56．Why couldn't women become teachers easily? Because_______．
A．the first profession open to them was writing
B．most schools and colleges were open only to men
C．they wanted to be nurses instead
D．they had to work in the business world
57．The article is mainly about_______．
A．women in the business world B．the famous Bronte sisters
C．schools and colleges in America D．rights for American women
58．Which fact does the article lead you to believe?
A．The Bronte sisters thought that they were men．
B．England's first training school for nurses was in Ohio．
C．There are more men than women in professional job．
D．Women find it necessary to work harder than before．
59．Which of the following is TRUE？
A．The typewriter was made in the 1970's．
B．Most Englanders are doctors or lawyers．
C．People's ideas about women's work have changed．
D．The 18th century saw a changing world for women．

We may all have had the embarrassing moment: Getting half-way through a story only to realize that we’ve told this exact tale before, to the same person. Why do we make such memory mistakes?
According to research published in Psychological Science, it may have to do with the way our brains process different types of memory.
Researchers Nigel Gopie, of the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, and Colin Macleod, of the University of Waterloo, divided memory into two kinds. The first was source memory, or the ability to keep track of where information is coming from. The second was destination memory, or the ability to recall who we have given information to.
They found that source memory functions better than destination memory, in part because of the direction in which that information is travelling.
To study the differences between source and destination memory, the researchers did an experiment on 60 university students, according to a New York Times report. The students were asked to associate (联想) 50 random ( 随意的) facts with the faces of 50 famous people. Half of the students "told" each fact to one of the faces, reading it aloud when the celebrity's (名人的) picture appeared on a computer screen. The other half read each fact silently and saw a different celebrity picture afterward.
When later asked to recall which facts went with which faces, the students who were giving information out (destination memory) scored about 16 percent lower on memory performance compared with the students receiving information (source memory).
The researchers concluded that out-going information was less associated with its environmental context （背景）---- that is, the person ---- than was incoming information.
This makes sense given what is known about attention. A person who is giving information, even little facts, will devote some mental resources to thinking about what is being said. Because our attention is limited, we give less attention to the person we are giving information to.
After a second experiment with another group of 40 students, the researchers concluded that self-focus is another factor that undermines destination memory.
They asked half the students to continue giving out random information, while the other told things about themselves. This time around, those who were talking about themselves did 15 percent worse than those giving random information.
"When you start telling these personal facts compared with non-self facts, suddenly destination memory goes down more, suggesting that it is the self-focus component ( 成分) that's reducing the memory, Gopie told Live Science.
72. The point of this article is to ____.
A. give advice on how to improve memory
B. say what causes the memory to worsen
C. explain why we repeat stories to those we've already told them to
D. discuss the differences between source and destination memory
73. What can we learn from the article?
A. Source memory helps us remember who we have told the information to.
B. One's limited attention is one of the reasons why those reading aloud to the celebrity's pictures perform worse on the memory test.
C. Silent reading is a better way to remember information than reading aloud.
D. It tends to be more difficult for people to link incoming information with its environmental context than outgoing information.
74. The underlined word "undermines" probably means ____.
A. weakens B. benefits C. explains D. supports
75. What did the scientists conclude from the second experiment?
A. Destination memory is weaker than source memory.
B. Focusing attention on oneself leads to relatively poor source memory performance.
C. Associating personal experience with information helps people memorize better.
D. Self-focus is responsible for giving information twice or more to the same person.

One day the employees of a large company in St Louis, Missouri returned from their lunch break and were greeted with a sign on the front door. The sign said: "Yesterday the person who has been hindering ((阻碍) your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral (葬礼) in the room that has been prepared in the gym."
At first everyone was sad to hear that one of their colleagues had died, but after a while they started getting curious about who this person might be.
The excitement grew as the employees arrived at the gym to pay their last respects. Everyone wondered: "Who is this person that was hindering my progress? Well, at least he's no longer here."
One by one the employees got closer to the coffin (棺材) and when they looked inside it they became speechless. They stood over the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul.
There was a mirror inside the coffin: Everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: "There is only one person who can set limits to your growth: it is YOU."
You are the only person who can revolutionize (彻底改变) your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself.
Your life does not change when your family changes, when your friends change, when your boss changes, and when your company changes.
Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.
60. The writer's purpose in writing the article is to tell us that ____.
A. the harder we work, the more successful we will become
B. our work and life are closely connected with others
C. changing our lives is down to us
D. we will have a better future if people do not hinder our development
61. People were speechless when they looked inside the coffin because ____.
A. there was nothing but a mirror inside B. they could see their own souls inside
C. their closest colleague lay inside D. what was inside told a great truth
62. Who probably wrote the sign on the front door?
A. The company boss. B. A worker who liked to make fun of others.
C. The director in charge of production. D. A worker who wanted to teach others a lesson.
63. What can we conclude from the article?
A. The employees went to the gym to join the funeral.
B. The lesson the employees learned would influence them greatly.
C. The employees’ lives depended on the attitude of their boss.
D. The employees got angry after the funeral.

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, "Don't you want to win again?" "No," she replied, "I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade."
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting(借用) my daughter's experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough a way to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
68. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A. A lot of entertainments compete for children's time nowadays.
B. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
C. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
69. What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
B. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
C. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
D. Most other stories had been rejected by publishers.
70. The author took great pains to correct her daughter's stories because ______.
A. she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer
B. she was afraid Rebecca's imagination might run wild while writing
C. she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
D. she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance
71. What's the author's advice for parents?
A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.