MIANYANG—Atacornerofthecity’sJ-优题课

E
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（外在的）result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．
By contrast（对照）, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signpost or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have, and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and 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 face 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 necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowy, and we think we are slow to adapt（适应）changes or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．
These feelings of insecurity（不安全）and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．
56．In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would________．
A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder
B．grow up from his own achievement
C．face difficulties and take up challenges
D．aim high and reach his goal each time
57．Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?
A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．
B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．
C．Jeny picked up French during his stay in Paris．
D．Father’s salary rose from 5,000 to 7,000．
58．For Personal growth, the author is in favor of all the following EXCEPT ________．
A．being curious about more changes
B．being quick in self-adapation
C．having an open mind to new experiences
D．staying away from failures and challenges
59．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth．
B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable．
C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth．
D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow
60．The best title for this passase should be_____________．
A．Facing New Challenges B．Growth—Product or Process
C．Two Basic Ways of Growth D．Overcoming Internal Fears

D
It is hard to predict（预言）how science is going to turn out, and whether it is really good science, it is impossible to predict．If the things to be found are actually new, they must be unknown in advance．You cannot make choices on this matter．You either have science or you don’t and if you have it you have to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and useful bits．
The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we don’t know enough about nature．Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology．It is, in its way, a clear piece of news．It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century to be told by any of us how little we know and how strange the way ahead seems．In earlier times, they either pretended to understand how things worked or simply made up stories to give answers．Now that we have begun exploring seriously, we are catching sight of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered．Because of this, we are sorry．It is not so bad being ignorant（无知的）if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some details the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not so bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted．
But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction．There are probably no questions we can think up that can’t be answered, sooner or later．Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention．
51．Acoording to the writer, really good science________．
A．would surprise the brightest minds of the 18th century．
B．will help people to make the right choice in advance
C．will produce results which cannot be predicted
D．will bring about disturbing results
52．It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century________．
A．thought that they knew a great deal and could deal with most problems of science．
B．knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
C．were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
D．did more harm than good in man’s understanding of nature
53．Which of the following is NOT mentioned about scientists in earlier times?
A．They falsely declared to know all about nature．
B．They did not believe in results from scientific observation．
C．They paid little attention to the problems they didn’t understand．
D．They invented false rules to explain things they didn’t understand．
54．What is the writer’s attitude towards science?
A．He is sorry because of the ignorance of scientists．
B．He is delighted because of the latest scientific findings．
C．He is doubtful because of the great difficulties in scientific research．
D．He is confident though he knows well the great difficulties in scientific research．
55．The writer believes that sooner or later________．
A．man can’t deal with all the problems he can find because of the limits of human knowledge．
B．man can find solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up
C．questions concerning nature are outsiede the field of scientific research
D．man can think up all the questions and answer them all．

C
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, painfree life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever getting real happiness．If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness．But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness is connected with some pain．
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts（尝试）that are the source of true happiness They fear the pain brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment（承担的义务），self-improvement．
Ask a bachelor（单身汉）why he refuses marriages even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying, if he’s honest he will tell you afraid of making a commitment．For commitment is in fact painful．The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement．Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most unusual features．
Couples with baby children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation．I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children．But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild．
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has noting to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations．It liberates（解放）time; now we can devote more hours to activities that can increase our happiness．It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless．And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all．
48．Raising children, in the author’s opinion, is________．
A．a duty we should have to perform B．a thankless job
C．a source of pain that can’t be avoided D．a rewarding task
49．To understand what true happiness is one must________．
A．have as much fun as possible during ones lifetime
B．make every effort to free oneself from pain
C．put up with pain in all conditions
D．be able to tell happiness from fun
50．What is the writer trying to tell us?
A．One must know how to get happiness
B．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain
C．It is important to make commitments
D．Pain usually leads to happiness

B
HOW TO BOOK
Booking opens for Beckett Shorts on 8 September．
BY TELEPHONE
For credit card（信用卡）bookings．Calls are answered．
BOX OFFICE
01789 295623 9 a．m．— 8 p．m．（Mon—Sat）
0541 541051（24 hours, 7 days, no booking charge）
BY FAX
For credit card booking．Please allow least 48 hours for reply, if required．
BOX OFFICE
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BY POST
Please enclose（附上）a cheque or credit card details together with an SAE or add 50p to the total amount（总额）to cover postage．Please send to the Box Office．RST．Startford-upon-Avoe, CV37 6BB．
Booking opens for all other plays on 19 September
IN PERSON
BOX OFFICE
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OVERSEAS BOOKING
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PSYING FOR YOUR TICKETS
CHEQUES
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Cheques and postal orders should be payable to: Royal Shakespeare Theatre．
45．In which of the following ways of booking does one probably have to pay extra money?
A．In person B．By telephone C．By fax D．By post
46．One has to wait for 2 days or longer for a reply if he/she pays________．
A．in person B．by telephone C．by fax D．by post
47．What is useful number to call at 11 a．m．Sunday?
A．01789 295623 B．0541 541051 C．01789 261974 D．01862 387765

第二部分阅读理解（共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees．One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk．For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it onto the house．Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it．Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before．We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable．We easily placed it in a stand, decorated（装饰）it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light．Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off．There was nothing to do undecorated it, take it down, and begin treeshopping again．Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task．When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it had in the great outdoors．To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts and bolts worked more mysteriously than those of our old stand．I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand．Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers’ shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments（装饰）were stored．Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these．I don’t care to hear them, as my family’s experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion：“Let’s forget the tree next Christmas．Let’s simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall．”
41．The darkest moments in the writer’s family were with the fact that________．
A．the family bought big Christmas trees
B．they had problems decorating their Christmas trees
C．they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees
D．they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees．
42．We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to________．
A．forget about Christmas
B．get the neighbors to put up their trees
C．buy a better tree
D．make some other decorations to celebrate Christmas rather than the tree
43．When the writer said“mother bought what she thought to be a bargain”, he means________．
A．she bought the tree at a cheap price
B．she didn’t really want to buy it
C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman
D．she couldn’t afford a more expensive one
44．Which of the following can be the best for the passage?
A．How to Select a Christmas Tree B．No More Christmas Tree for US
C．Dark Moments of Life D．Christmas without Trees