“Be nice to people.” This sounds like a platitude（老生常谈）,but I’ll never forget my father’s words. I was 10, and I had been mean to someone. He said, “There is no point in being mean to anyone at any time. You never know who you’re going to meet later in life. And by the way, you don’t change anything by being mean. Usually you don’t get anywhere.”
“Remember you can do anything you want to do. Don’t let an
yone say, ‘You’re not smart enough, it’s too hard, it’s a foolish idea, no one has done that before, girls don’t do that.’ ”My mom gave me that advice in 1973. And it allowed me to never worry what others were saying about my career direction.
“Always do the best job you can do at whatever you’re assigned（分派）,even if you think it’s boring.” Jerry Parkinson, my boss at P&G, told me this in 1979. Here I was fresh out of Harvard Business School(HBS), and I was assigned to determine how big the hole in the Ivory shampoo bottle should be: 3/8 of an inch or 1/8 of an inch. I did research, focus groups and I would come home at night wondering how I had gone from HBS to this. But later I realized any job you’re given is an opportunity to prove yourself.
“Don’t be a credit hog. If you’re constantly in the neighborhood of good things, good things will happen to you.” Tom Tierney, who was my boss at Bain in 1981 and is now on the eBay board, told me this. It’s true that you get ahead by praising other people.
Finally, in 1998, I was in New York watching the ticker as eBay went public. My husband is a surgeon（外科医生）.I called him and told him the great news. And he said, “That’s nice. But Meg, remember that it’s not brain surgery.” We can learn that ______ from the passage.
| A．“Be nice to people” is the topic that people like |
| B．it’s not necessary for us all to be too mean at any time |
| C．I never forget any word that father spoke to me |
| D．we won’t be successful if we are too mean to others |
How many pieces of advice were given by her family?
| A．Two. | B．Four. | C．Three. | D．One. |
This passage was written by _____ order.
| A．story development | B．time | C．working conditions | D．ideas |
The author’s husband is more concerned _____ than eBay’s going public.
| A．his success | B．opportunity to prove himself |
| C．brain surgery | D．his career |
What’s the main idea of the whole passage?
| A．Advice in life really made a difference to us. |
| B．We should be nice to people around us. |
| C．People can succeed by praising others. |
| D．Too mean persons will get nothing from life. |
Why does the rate of heart attacks increase during the World Cup football finals? How can we help an overweight patient to lose weight? They’re just some of the topics covered in a new book by University of Sussex academics, which is helping student doctors to consider the importance of psychology in medical practice.
Psychology for Medicine is the first textbook of its kind, providing medical trainees and new doctors with all the relevant psychological knowledge they need. Previously, students had to refer to many different books for the relevant psychology.
The book, by Sussex psychologists Dr. Sussex Ayers and Dr. Richard de Visser, has been well received by fellow academics and medical doctors and was finished with the help of the students and staff of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. The students proofread（校对） the chapters, provided ideas for the content and even modeled for the photographs. The book provides a solid grounding in psychological study relevant to medicine, along with practical tips and advice for practice. One student, Simon Hall, drew cartoons for the book.
The study psychology is important for doctors for a number of reasons. Psychological and physical symptoms are highly related. Up to a third of patients will have psychological disorders, while physical causes are usually only found in around 15 per cent of people’s symptoms. In treatment, a lot of the effect drugs can be due to patients believing they will recover rather than the drug itself.
Dr. Ayers says, “The important thing about this book is that it’s applied science --- it shows why psychology is important to medicine and how we should use it. The book’s presentation is really important. It’s not just lots of theory, but full of tips and advice so that students can take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real-life situations.”The book Psychology for Medicine is mainly written for ________.
| A．scientists | B．overweight people | C．patients | D．student doctors |
What is the third paragraph mainly about?
| A．The topics of the book. | B．The comments on the book. |
| C．The contributors to the book. | D．The characteristics of the book. |
According to the text, the book Psychology for Medicine _________.
| A．is a bit difficult to understand. |
| B．is mainly about how to lose weight. |
| C．included tips on training football players. |
| D．focuses on the importance of psychology in treatment |
We can infer that the text is a(n) ______.
| A．research report | B．introduction to a book |
| C．advertisement for a book | D．introduction to a psychologist |
Being less than perfectly well-dressed in a business setting can result in a feeling of discomfort. And the sad truth is that “clothing mismatches” on the job can ruin the day of the person who is wearing the inappropriate attire(着装)—and the people with whom he or she works.
Offices vary when it comes to dress codes. Some businesses have very strict standards for office attire, while others maintain a more relaxed attitude. However, it is always important to remember that no matter what your company’s attitude is, you are working in a business environment and you should dress properly. Certain items may be more appropriate for evening wear than for a business meeting, just as shorts and a T-shirt are better suited for the beach than for an office environment. Your attire should reflect both your environment and your position. A senior president has a different image to maintain than that of a secretary. Like it or not, you will be judged by your appearance.
This is never more apparent than on “dress-down days”, when what you wear can say more about you than any business suit ever could. In fact, people will pay more attention to what you wear on dress-down days than on “business professional ” days. Thus, when dressing in “business casual” clothes, try to put some good taste into your choices, recognize that the “real” definition of business casual is to dress just one notch(等级) down from what you would normally wear on business-professional attire days.
Remember, there are borders between your career and our social life. You should dress one way for play and another way when you mean business. Always ask yourself where you are going and how other people will be dressed when you get there. Is the final destination the opera, the beach, or the office? Dress properly and you will discover the truth in the principle that clothes make the man—and the woman. When you’re in doubt, it’s safe to be on the side of dressing slightly more traditionally than the situation demands.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to dress properly in a business setting. |
| B．How to choose appropriate attire. |
| C．Appropriate attire will make a big difference |
| D．Improper dress will make a person uncomfortable. |
Which statement best describes “dress-down days”?
| A．You can wear whatever you like. |
| B．People are usually more careful about dressing. |
| C．We can’t judge a person’s taste by his clothes. |
| D．People’s clothes don’t receive much attention. |
Which of the following is NOT the rule offered in the passage about business dress?
| A．Dress a bit traditionally if you are not sure about proper dress for an occasion. |
| B．Think about how others will dress if invited to a dinner. |
| C．For a business meeting and a concert, you should dress differently. |
| D．Ask others for advice when you are not sure about what to dress. |
As a young girl, Margaret “Mattie” Knight never played with dolls, preferring to make toys for her brothers instead. In 1849, Knight went to work in a cotton factory where she witnessed a “shuttle,” a device that carries thread back and forth across a textile loom（纺布机）, fly off the machine when the thread broke, striking and killing a young boy about her own age.
The 12-year-old Knight developed a safety mechanism that made it impossible for a shuttle to leave the loom. The design was so effective, soon virtually every new power loom carried her invention, saving countless workers from injury or death. Being so young, she didn’t bother to patent the device, so she never received payment.
Knight wouldn’t make the same mistake later in life when she invented a machine that could produce flat-bottomed paper bags. Knight had built a small wooden model in her home, but she needed a metal version to show it could hold up to the stress of mass production. So she hired Charles Annan to make the full-sized machine for her, only to have him try to claim the patent for himself. When Knight sued（起诉）, Annan’s argument was that the design had to be his, because no woman could possibly understand the complex mechanics. Knight proved him wrong when she brought back her wooden prototype and explained how every part worked. She won the case in 1871, making her the second woman to hold an American patent. Over a hundred years later, her design is still used as the basis for many modern flat-bottom bag machines.
But that wasn’t the last the world heard of Mattie Knight. During her lifetime, she made about 90 inventions and received 26 patents, becoming one of the most productive female inventors of the 19th century. We can learn from Paragraph 1 that ________.
| A．Knight behaved like boys | B．Knight had an unhappy childhood |
| C．Knight did a poor job of making toys | D．Knight liked inventing things as a child |
What do we know about Knight’s first invention?
| A．It is still used today. | B．It brought her great profit. |
| C．It was made when he was 20. | D．It reduced injuries at textile plants. |
Knight sued Charles Annan because he _______.
| A．stole the wooden model for the machine she invented. |
| B．failed to make the full-sized machine for her |
| C．tried to patent her invention for himself |
| D．kept the metal version for himself |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Mattie Knight’s fight for her patent | B．A great woman in the 19th century |
| C．“The female Edison”, Mattie Knight | D．Great inventions, great woman |
Across the planet there are millions of people who engage in some type of meditation, the practice of concentrating and clearing the mind to bring the body into a state of peace, at least a semi-regular basis. For some, particularly among practitioners of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, this is part and parcel of their religious practice.
For others, particularly in Western cultures, meditation tends to be a response to stress. With the world economy approaching meltdown and people worried about their job or their ability to keep their home, it’s a way for people to attain a state of peace of mind and well-being.
For those interested in taking up the practice, instruction in meditation for beginners can be found in literally thousands of sources.
One of the most popular styles of mediation in the West, with classes offered in most major cities, is called Transcendental Meditation. TM, as it is known among its practitioners, first came to worldwide attention when the Beatles began practicing it in 1967. For direct, guided, personal instruction in meditation for the beginner, TM may be the hallmark.
Part of the confusion about how to practice meditation effectively is due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of techniques championed by various groups and individuals. As a general principle, it might be said that all meditation techniques seek to have the practitioner attain a state of consciousness that is different to our ordinary state of awareness. They attempt to train people to clear their minds and achieve a sense of inner peace. It sounds simple enough, but of the huge number of people experiment with meditation, very few are able to maintain its practice over the long haul. In most cases, this is due to frustration over the inability to experience any dramatic, instantly recognizable effects.
This is quite a sad state of affairs, that so few these days are willing or equipped to persist in something that doesn’t provide immediate life-changing results. It reflects a culture in which demands for discipline and sustained effort are considered unnecessary or even unfair. It is no surprise therefore that many people abandon their efforts at meditation before they have a chance to bear fruit.
But for anyone who does decide to take up this worthwhile practice, please remember. You must clear your mind, relax and “take it as it comes”. Maintain the practice with a sense of discipline and devotion, and eventually benefits of inner peace and calm will be yours. The underlined part “part and parcel of” in paragraph 1 is nearest in meaning to ________.
| A．closely associated with | B．very different to |
| C．usually sent from | D．an important element of |
The goal of meditation is ________.
| A．to clear the mind | B．to practice a religion |
| C．to develop a technique | D．to carry out an experiment |
What can we infer about meditation from the passage?
| A．It has two main types. |
| B．It is practiced by many famous artists. |
| C．Its benefits are not immediately obvious. |
| D．Most people find it a very good way to relax. |
According to the writer, what has attracted many Western people to meditation practices in recent years?
| A．Their improved understanding of foreign culture. |
| B．The need to fill in their growing free time. |
| C．Increasing employment instability. |
| D．Migration from countries in which meditation is traditional. |
Who is the probable audience for this article?
| A．Experienced meditation practitioners. |
| B．People interested in starting to learn meditation. |
| C．Buddhists and Hindus. |
| D．People who are very religious. |
Studying volcanoes is a demanding profession. Hazel Rymer frequently has to struggle through rainforests, climb to the top of mountains, then climb 200 metres into the crater of active volcanoes. But the 38-year-old volcanologist does her best to make it sound less alarming than it is. “Driving to work is more risky,” she insists. “And the deepest I go into the crater of a volcano is about 300 metres,” she adds, trying to make it all sound as ordinary as taking the dog for a walk.
Hazel has been studying volcanoes for a long time, so it’s not surprising she is used to the danger. Her interest in volcanoes began at school. A teacher gave her a book about Pompeii. “I remember reading about the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of the city,” she explains. “The thought of all those people just frozen in time had quite an effect on me and I am still excited by their dangerous beauty today.”
Nowadays, volcanoes are getting more and more unpredictable. There have been many changes in sea level caused by global warming and melting ice caps. These have resulted in some dormant volcanoes erupting, so studying them is more dangerous than ever before. Hazel says that although she doesn’t take any unnecessary risk she has had some frightening moments. Her worst experience was on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, when she was slowly surrounded by lava. “I had a choice of walking ten hours to get around the lava flow or just walking across it,” she explains. She chose to pick a path across the cooler rocks in the lava stream. “I guess it was five metres. The flow was 1,000°C, so if you hesitated your boots would begin to melt. It was scary, but it really was a practical decision --- there wasn't time to do anything else.”
And what about the future? “I haven’t been to the volcanoes in Indonesia yet. And I would love to spend some time working in the Antarctic,” she says. “I would also like to know why quiet lava flows erupt from some volcanoes and why other volcanoes go bang.” In other words, Hazel Rymer won’t be exchanging her volcanoes for the relative safety of driving to work just yet. Hazel’s claim that “driving to work is more risky” than exploring volcanoes shows that ______.
| A．people have exaggerated the dangers of volcanoes in the past |
| B．Hazel does not really understand the dangerous situations she puts herself in. |
| C．there are many bad drivers in the place where Hazel lives |
| D．Hazel is being modest and understating the dangers she faces |
When did Hazel first become interested in volcanoes?
| A．When she was visiting Italy. |
| B．When she was at school. |
| C．When she was twenty. |
| D．When she saw Vesuvius. |
The underlined word “these” (in paragraph 3) refers to __________.
| A．melting ice-caps | B．volcanic eruptions |
| C．changes in sea level | D．higher temperatures |
When Hazel was on Mount Etna she had to ________.
| A．take a dangerous route |
| B．take an unnecessary risk |
| C．leave her boots behind |
| D．walk for ten hours around the mountain |
In the future, Hazel wants to ________.
| A．revisit volcanoes she knows |
| B．go on holiday to the Antarctic |
| C．find a less dangerous job |
| D．discover new things about volcanoes |