One of the requirements of every graduation ceremony speaker is that they offer some advice. Well, get ready, here it comes.
Soon you will be leaving the company of those who think they have all the answers –your professors, instructors and counselors-and going out into what we like to call the real world. In time you will meet up with other people who think they have all the answers. These people are called bosses. My advice is: humor them.
A little later you’ll meet additional people who think they have all the answers.
These are called spouses (配偶) . My advice is: humor them, too.
And of all goes well, in a few years you will meet still another group of people who think they have all the answers. These are called children. Humor them.
Life will go on, your children will grow up, go to school and someday they could be taking part in a graduation ceremony just like this one. And who knows, the speakers responsible for handing out good advice might be you. Halfway through your speech, the graduate sitting next to your daughter will lean over and ask, “Who is that woman up there who thinks she has all the answers?”
Well, thanks to the reasonable advice you are hearing today and that I hope you will all pass on, she will be able to say, “That is my mother. Humor her.”According to the text, at a graduation ceremony you’ll most probably hear ________ given by the speaker.
| A．wishes | B．proposals |
| C．warnings | D．instructions |
Among the people mentioned who think they have all the answers, which of the following are not referred to?
| A．teaching staff | B．company staff members |
| C．recreational and sports person | D．family members |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “have all the answers”?
| A．know a great deal about something through man’s life |
| B．know all the keys to any test before any graduation |
| C．be clever enough to do anything well in school |
| D．be experienced in giving advice on any subject |
What should you do with those who think they know all the answers according to the writer?
| A．Argue with them to keep them angry |
| B．Keep them happy by accepting their wishes |
| C．Refuse them to make them complain |
| D．Turn deaf ears to them |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Requirement Of Speakers | B．How to Offer Advice |
| C．Humour them! | D．To Hell with them! |
Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune，I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed，the angel of death(死神) came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”The underlined part “the pair” in the second paragraph two refers to.
| A．the poor couple | B．the rich couple |
| C．the guests | D．the angels |
The younger angel was very angry because .
| A．the older angel treated the two families unfairly. |
| B．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow. |
| C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live. |
| D．the angel of death took the cow away. |
Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?
| A．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife. |
| B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson. |
| C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich. |
| D．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow. |
The story tries to tell the reader that .
| A．the young should always learn from the old |
| B．angels are always ready to help the poor. |
| C．angels are always ready to help the rich. |
| D．sometimes things are not what they seem. |
Not many things in life can be more irritating: you are having a conversation with friends, but they check their phones and begin replying to texts or checking their emails. The Guardian (卫报) described the scene of a friend’s face buried in a screen as “a distinct 21st-century problem”. A new word has been created to describe this --- phubbing. It is the act of looking at your mobile phone instead of paying attention to others during a social interaction. Like pointing at one’s nose, phubbing is widely considered rude behavior. People everywhere are beginning to lose patience with the phenomenon.
A “Stop Phubbing” campaign group has been started in Australia and at least five others have sprung up in its wake as anger about the lack of manners grows. The campaign’s creator, Alex Haigh, 23, from Melbourne, said, “A group of friends and I were chatting when someone raised how annoying being ignored by people on mobiles was.” He has created a website where companies can download posters to discourage phubbing.
Phubbing is just one symptom of our increasing dependence on mobile phones and the Internet, which is replacing normal social interaction. A survey found that one out of three Britons would answer the phone in a restaurant and 19% said they would while being served in a shop. The survey came after a supermarket assistant in south London refused to serve a woman until she stopped using her phone. A poll, for a Sunday paper, also found that 54 percent of people checked Facebook, Twitter or other social media every day, with 16 per cent checking more than ten times a day. An unsurprising 63 per cent of people carry their phone with them “almost all, or all of the time”, it found.
Phil Reed, a professor of psychology at Swansea University who has studied the Internet addiction disorder, said many phubbers show symptoms of addiction to their mobile phones.
Time magazine once pointed out, “Phubbing has a much greater potential harm to real-life connections by making people around us feel like we care more about posts than their presence.”
In the UK, Glamour magazine even imagined how novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) would have written about people with bad mobile phone manners: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man or woman in possession of a good mobile phone must be in want of manners.”Phubbing has come about because _______.
| A．distrust has already been everywhere among people |
| B．the friendship between people is becoming fragile |
| C．people are getting dependent on attraction online |
| D．there has been a lack of means of communication |
Which of the statements is TRUE about the “Stop Phubbing” campaign?
| A．It was first started in America and then it spread to Melbourne. |
| B．Companies can update posters against phubbing on the website. |
| C．Alex Haigh, 23, was the first one to find phubbing annoying. |
| D．Up till now, at least six groups have claimed to support it. |
The supermarket assistant refused to serve the woman mainly because _______.
| A．the woman buried her face in the mobile phone screen for a very long time |
| B．the woman ignored respect and manners by focusing only on her phone |
| C．the assistant lost his patience with the woman who was using her phone |
| D．it is rare for customers to answer the phone while being served in shops |
In the last paragraph, the writer wants to tell readers that ______.
| A．one with a mobile phone should mind his/her manners |
| B．Jane Austen must have worked for Glamour magazine |
| C．phubbing is going to be forbidden immediately in the UK |
| D．people with good manners must have good mobile phones |
Extracts (摘录) From Information Booklet For Car Ferry Passengers
CAR DECKS
Car drivers are advised to use the handbrake before leaving their cars, to lock all doors and to take with them all belongings that may be needed during the crossing.
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
We regret that there are no facilities aboard for the exchange of cheques of any kind but most European currencies together with Euro cards and various types of international credit cards are accepted for payment in restaurants, shops, cinemas, etc. and to carry out other transactions (交易) on board.
PASSENGER FACILITIES ON BOARD
The following are a small selection of those available.
PROMENADE DECK(散步甲板): Here you can enjoy a pleasant stroll, go for a jog, or sit or lie back in the sunshine in adaptable reclining seats(躺椅). We would however suggest passengers that decks may be slippery in wet or freezing weather.
VIEWING BRIDGE: This is situated below the Captain's Bridge and offers a view over the bow of the ship. The viewing bridge is reached from the promenade deck via the foremost stairway.
A LA CARTE RESTAURANT: This serves the same breakfast buffet as the main dining room. Scandinavian and international specialties are available at lunch and dinner times. No reservations required.
DUTY-FREE SHOP: This is a supermarket offering Scandinavian and international goods, foodstuffs, spirits, tobacco goods, sweets etc.
OPENING TIMES: The opening times of the various shops, restaurants and other facilities are shown on the relevant entrance doors as well as on the boards in the main halls on Decks 4.Passengers to the A La Carte restaurant _______.
| A．can enjoy a buffet free of charge |
| B．cannot reserve a place for lunch or dinner |
| C．can have the full menu whenever they like |
| D．can sit wherever they like when they come in |
According to the information given, the promenade deck can be used for _____.
| A．exercise and relaxation |
| B．enjoying the view over the sea |
| C．taking exercise in all kinds of weather |
| D．spending the night |
Which of the following car ferry passengers might have trouble or difficulty on the ferry?
| A．A British standing on the viewing bridge below Captain's Bridge. |
| B．An Australian taking with him all his belongings in the car. |
| C．A Canadian with only banknotes from his own country. |
| D．A German going for a walk on promenade deck. |
The trouble with school is that you can’t choose the people you get to see every day. If you’re unlucky enough to be stuck with classmates who don’t really “get” you, you’ve just got to try to make the best of it.
But that doesn’t mean you need to “fit in”, or at least in the way that people think. If you try to transform yourself into a clone of everyone else, it won’t help you make friends. It’ll just make you feel like a fake.
You also shouldn’t shut down or refuse to be friends with everyone who doesn’t like you. If you do that, you’ll just make yourself miserable. Instead, you’ve got to work on being comfortable and confident with whom you are while ignoring all the haters. Keep on speaking up, asking questions and getting to know people better. If you send out positive energy, then people will generally send some back to you. A couple of them will stay the same, and you’re allowed to forget about them.
If you feel like you’re doing all that but still not getting anywhere, then don’t give up. Just expand your circle. Get a part-time job at a cool-looking place, join an after-school art class or youth group—do whatever it takes to find a couple of like-minded people to connect with. Even if you don’t find anyone right away, you’ll still be getting some more social experiences under your belt, and that’s always a good thing.
A fun book called Uncool, by Erin Elisabeth Conley, has some tips for folks like you who want to stay positive at school while being true to your personality:
·Throw caution to the wind.
·Don’t tolerate others’ mistakes.
·Have patience with people who are different from you.
·Don’t change just because someone else thinks you should.
·Know that even though you may be a misfit, there’s always some place where you will be welcomed in the world.According to the author, what should you do if you meet people who don’t appreciate you?
| A．Just give up. |
| B．Ask someone else for help. |
| C．Show positive attitude toward them. |
| D．Try your best to fit in with them. |
The author agrees that you should take part in more activities in order to __________.
| A．get more chances of making friends |
| B．lay a better foundation for your future jobs |
| C．transform yourself into a clone. |
| D．make you feel like a fake. |
In the book Uncool, Erin Elisabeth Conley thinks you should _________.
| A．always be kind to your friends |
| B．keep your own personality |
| C．tolerate others’ mistakes |
| D．help improve characters of others |
This passage was written mainly for _______.
| A．doctors | B．scientists |
| C．students | D．Teachers |
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on July 21st, 1899. Influenced by his father, he enjoyed camping, fishing and hunting at his early age. In 1917, after graduation from high school, Hemingway began his writing career with The Kansas City Star. And then, after being rejected for army service in World War I because of poor vision, he volunteered to serve as a driver for an American ambulance unit in France. In 1918, he transferred to duty on the Italian front, where he was seriously wounded in an explosion. After his recovery, he returned home. He worked for The Toronto star, covered the Greco-Turkish war as a foreign reporter, and then returned to Paris, which was a city full of intellectual life, creativity, and genius after the war. In Paris, where he accomplished a revolution in literary style and language, his first book, Three Stories and Ten Poems, appeared in 1923, and was followed by a short story collection In Our Time, which marked his entry to American literature in 1925.
Hemingway’s status as a remarkable writer of his time was confirmed with the publication of A Farewell to Arms in 1929. The novel represented a farewell both for war and for love. In 1937, he became a foreign reporter covering the Spanish Civil war. Three years later, he published For Whom the Bell Tolls. Set in Spain during the Civil war, the novel restated his view of love found and lost and described the tough spirit of the common people. In 1912, the same judgment was reflected in his portrait of fisherman, Santiago, with an indomitable spirit in defeat, in The Old Man and the Sea, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. With one of the most important influences on the development of the American short story and novel, Hemingway has seized the imagination of the American public like no other twentieth-century author. He died by suicide, in Ketchum, Idaho, in 1961.Hemingway was turned down for army service in World war I because ______ .
| A．he was unlearned | B．he was in poor condition |
| C．he was inexperienced | D．he had bad eyesight |
The publication of _______ proved Hemingway one of the greatest literary lights of the 20th century.
| A．Three Stories and Ten Poems |
| B．A Farewell to Arms |
| C．The Old Man and the Sea |
| D．In Our Time |
Which is the correct order of the following events given in this passage?
a. Hemingway’s work For Whom the Bell tolls came out.
b. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
c. Hemingway’s first book was published in Paris.
d. Hemingway got wounded on the Italian front.
e. Hemingway covered the Greco-Turkish war as a foreign reporter.
| A．d, e, c, a, b | B．e, c, d, a, b |
| C．a, c, e, b, d | D．c, e, a, b, d |
The underlined word “indomitable” in the last paragraph probably means ______.
| A．unending | B．unselfish | C．unbending | D．Unchanging |