We would probably all be amazed if we watched a videotape of ourselves performing basically unconscious acts as we go about the business of the day. These unconscious acts consist of all the little personal habits that we don’t even think about, but definitely should. These are some of the things that present an image of who we are to others, and if we are careless in performing them, this image may well be other than we would like it to be.
Parents who insist that their children practice good manners and habits at home are doing them a great service, for these habits then become lifelong and the natural way they do things. It proves true that their unconscious actions will reflect a well-mannered person.
People who, for example, eat with both arms on the table at home will
likely do so when out. Those who are lazy and slow in private will certainly be so in public. Children who are permitted to be disrespectful to their parents will follow suit with other adults, and will, most likely, become adults who are disrespectful of others. This is an area where the saying “practice makes perfect” may be applied.
There is an article about the actress, Audrey Hepburn, known for her beautiful carriage and posture. According to her biographer, her grandmother tied her neck to the back of her chair, at table, so that she would not drop down suddenly over her food, but rather would learn to put only small amounts of food on her spoon or fork and bring them to her mouth. This is a rather extreme “at home” method for the development of erect (直立的) posture, but it does illustrate the effectivene
ss of practicing good habits so that, when in public, they are instinctive.
Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．Parents should be responsible for their children’s good habits. |
| B．The actress is well known for her beautiful posture. |
| C．We should always be aware of our manners. |
| D．Without good manners, one can never be perfect. |
Those who eat with both arms on the table at home ______.
| A．will probably have the same habit when they have meals in the restaurant |
| B．will probably change the habit when eating out with their relatives |
| C．will feel embarrassed when having meals with so many strangers in public |
| D．will always put their arms on the table no matter where they eat |
The meaning of “practice makes perfect” in the third paragraph is ______.
| A．the more practice one has, the better job he will do |
| B．the more perfect one is, the more practice he needs |
| C．if one has enough practice, he will become perfect |
| D．perfect makes a person practice more |
Which of the following are NOT true?
A．If we are not careful about our unconscious acts, the images of ourselves presen ted to others will be quite undesirable. |
| B．The good habits formed in one’s childhood will benefit him throughout his life. |
| C．If parents do not care about the disrespectful attitude adopted by their children towards themselves, their children might be disrespectful of others. |
| D．It is unlikely that a well-mannered person will not embarrass himself in public. |
In 1939 two brothers, Mac and Dick McDonald, started a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. They carefully chose a busy corner for their location. They had run their own businesses for years, first a theater, then a barbecue（烤肉）restaurant, then another drive-in. But in their new operation, they offered a new, shortened menu: French fries, hamburgers, and sodas. To this small selection they added one new idea: quick service，no waiters or waitresses, and no tips.
Their hamburgers were sold for fifteen cents. Cheese was another four cents. Their French fries and hamburgers had a remarkable uniformity（一致性）, for the brothers had developed a strict routine（程序）for the preparation of their food, and they insisted on their cooks’ sticking to their routine. Their new drive-in became surprisingly popular, particularly for lunch. People drove up by the hundred during the busy noontime. The self-service restaurant was so popular that the brothers had allowed ten copies of their restaurant to be opened. They were content with this modest success until they met Ray Kroc.
Kroc was a salesman who met the McDonald brothers in 1954 when he was selling milkshake-mixing machines. He quickly saw the special attraction of the brothers’ fast-food restaurants and bought the right to franchise（特许经营）other copies of their restaurants. The agreement included the right to duplicate（复制） the menu, the equipment, even their red and white buildings the golden arches（拱门）.
Today McDonald’s is really a household name. In 1976, McDonald’s had over＄1 billion in total sales. Its first twenty-two years is one of the most surprising successes in modern American business history.This passage mainly talks about ＿＿＿.
| A．the development of fast food services |
| B．how McDonald’s became a billion-dollar business |
| C．the business careers of Mac and Dick McDonald |
| D．Ray Kroc’s business talent |
Mac and Dick managed all of the following business except ＿＿＿.
| A．a drive-in | B．a theater |
| C．a cinema | D．a barbecue restaurant |
We may infer from this passage that ＿＿＿.
| A．Mac and Dick McDonald never became wealthy, for they sold their ideas to Kroc |
| B．the place the McDonald brothers chose was the only source of the great popularity of their drive-in |
| C．forty years ago there were lots of fast-food restaurants |
| D．Ray Kroc was a good businessman |
The passage suggests that ＿＿＿.
| A．creativity is an important element of business success |
| B．Ray Kroc was the close partner of the McDonald brothers |
| C．Mac and Dick McDonald became broken after they sold their ideas to Ray Kroc |
| D．California is the best place to go into business |
Which of the following statement is NOT true?
| A．Today McDonald’s is very popular in the world. |
| B．The first twenty-two years of McDonald’s is the most surprising success in American business history. |
| C．Mac and Dick McDonald were content with their business at first. |
| D．It is convenient to eat in a drive-in. |
Many American youngsters earn their own allowance（零花钱）by doing temporary jobs for their neighbors. Babysitting is one of the common of these jobs. Most couples do not have maids or relatives living with them, and they need to have someone watch the children if they want to go out.
Another way is by mowing lawn in summer and clearing snow from sidewalks and driveways in winter. Many people mow their own lawns，but often people prefer to give the job to a neighbor’s child. In winter, snow clearing from streets and highways is the government’s responsibility. Homeowners or tenants, however, must clear sidewalks and driveways. Since clearing snow is very tiring, many people prefer to hire teenagers for this job rather than do it themselves.
Besides, many American teenagers usually work two to three hours after school and all day on Saturday or Sunday at the local supermarket. They work as cashiers or stockroom clerks. Or they help customers carry things to their cars. Other favorite jobs are waiting on tables in restaurants or working part-time at stores or gas stations.
By earning their own allowance，teenagers acquire a feeling of independence and a sense of responsibility which prepares them for a productive life in society.What does “babysitting” mean in the first paragraph?
| A．Watching a baby when its parents are out. | B．Working as a maid. |
| C．Sitting with a baby. | D．Selling something. |
How do American youngsters earn their allowance? Which one is NOT one of the ways?
| A．By mowing lawn in summer. |
| B．By clearing snow from sidewalks and driveways in winter. |
| C．By working two to three hours after school and all day on Saturday or Sunday. |
| D．By doing some housework for the family. |
When it comes to clearing snow，what do many people like to do?
| A．Hire teenagers for this job rather than do it themselves |
| B．They do it themselves. |
| C．They hire their own children to do so |
| D．They don’t clean it at all. |
What is the advantage of youngsters earning allowance?
| A．They acquire a feeling of independence. |
| B．They acquire a sense of responsibility. |
| C．The actions prepare them for a productive life in society. |
| D．All of the above. |
Who will clear the snow on the streets?
| A．The inhabitants. | B．The neighbors |
| C．The government. | D．The police. |
As a solo artist，Brightman has sold 26 million albums and two million DVDs in 34 countries. Her musical styles put opera, pop and jazz together. She is popular in the States but not here（Britain）—the image of her and her second husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber（he much older, she his muse) seems for ever frozen.
The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the normal and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted （father a property developer who later committed suicide）, she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5 I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe（辣妹三人舞）Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility（敌意） “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the UK, where I now live. I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.”The first paragraph tells us that ______.
| A．Brightman is very popular around the world except in America |
| B．Brightman’s musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazz |
| C．the British people don’t like her for her style of music |
| D．Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Brightman decided to give up having children because ______.
| A．she could adopt one |
| B．her life and career were unbelievably rich without children |
| C．she felt it normal not to have children |
| D．she was too busy |
The following statements are true except ______.
| A．Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5 |
| B．Brightman disliked life on campus |
| C．Brightman was very gifted when she was young |
| D．the saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous |
The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means ______.
| A．located | B．admired | C．followed | D．found |
What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman’s words?
| A．Brightman has to accept the fact that she isn’t liked in Britain |
| B．Brightman lives in America but she loves her own country |
| C．The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homeland |
| D．Brightman was at a loss why she was not welcome in Britain |
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can't be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying(腐烂) food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering (妨碍) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical(机械的）maintenance (保养）as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision(提供)of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results. And at what point should you stop treating the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by pursuing the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You cannot ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there's life, there's hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.It is implied in Paragraph 1 that______.
| A．very old people are able to keep their rooms very clean |
| B．social services have nothing to do with very old people |
| C．very old people enjoy living with their relatives |
| D．very old people would like to live alone so that they can have more personal freedom |
Some social workers think that______.
| A．personal freedom is more important than health and safety |
| B．health and safety are more important than personal freedom |
| C．old people should keep their rooms clean |
| D．one should not take the risk of dealing with old people |
The author thinks that______.
| A．medical decisions for old people should be left to the doctors |
| B．old people can enjoy a happy life only if they are very rich |
| C．it is always morally right to treat old people and push off death |
| D．the opinion that we should try every means possible to save old people is doubtful |
Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical（批判性的）thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes（过程）. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.
The word "critical" here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen—beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning (错误的推理).
Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker; if you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.
Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today's world, fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banish Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein, Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, "Please go slowly, I don't understand things quickly."Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically,__________.
| A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast |
| B．we will follow the ideas of others naturally |
| C．we might be controlled by other people's ideas |
| D．we might be fooled by other people's ideas |
If you are a critical thinker, you will________.
| A．criticize other people for their mistakes | B．trust the reports in the newspapers |
| C．take one view against another view | D．think deeply about different ideas |
In the last paragraph, "something new" suggests that________.
| A．the smarter you are, the faster you do things |
| B．intelligence is not decided by speed |
| C．speed can improve intelligence |
| D．the faster you do things, the smarter you become |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Understanding Critical Thinking | B．Thinking and Critical Thinking |
| C．Thinking Natural and Human | D．Thinking Fast Means Intelligence |