When I was an official of a school in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents knew his difficulties, but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.
“Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time. If I had only known that, I would have said to him, ‘Jim, I love you and I’m always so proud of you.’ I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, his laughter, and his genuine love to other people.
“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much.
“I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died. He called me to say, ‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. You have to go to work now. Bye.’ That day, he gave me something to treasure forever. ”
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people, especially family members, that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care. You may never have another chance. Do it today! Who was Jim?
| A．The child of the Tyners’. | B．The writer’s relative. |
| C．The president of a school board. | D．An official of a school. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “the educationally handicapped”?
| A．The learning difficulty. | B．The physical problems. |
| C．The psychological problems. | D．The communication difficulty. |
According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE？
| A．He was always sad about his school marks. |
| B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks. |
| C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers. |
| D．He was killed in a car accident. |
The purpose of Polly’s letter is to .
| A．memorize her son |
| B．teach parents to appreciate their children |
| C．teach children how to be good boys |
| D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems |
People often talk as if shyness is a disease or mental condition that can be cured. I prefer to think of it as an emotional disability. It’s something we are born with and something we carry with us in our entire lives. There are too many people, however, who seem to be determined to find some way of doing away with their shyness. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time. I don’t mean that we should do nothing about it; quite the contrary, I think we need to separate the basic fact of shyness from our ability to take part in a social environment.
Look at one of the most famous shy people of them all, Johnny Carson. This man is painfully shy, yet for decades he made a living talking and associating with different people every night, in front of a national audience. Carson has never done away with his shyness, but he has successfully found a way to deal with it to the extent that he could be, not just a talk show host, but a legend (传奇) among talk show hosts. Look also at Sally Fields, who has recently admitted her problem with shyness. This is a woman who has appeared in many films, TV shows and interviews, yet in her early years she was so shy that she turned down a lunch invitation from Jane Fonda because she was terribly afraid of meeting her.
I guess that our shyness is there because each of us is born with some insecurity (不安全感) and this insecurity prevents us from reading out to others the way people with a more open personality do. As we grow up and become adults, we allow our social skills to grow and develop. But we are still stuck in kindergarten or elementary school or wherever it was when our shyness took root in our soul.. In the author’s view, shyness can be explained as _________.
| A．a disease that can be easily cured |
| B．a not very normal mental condition |
| C．an emotional disability |
| D．something we pick up after birth |
. The author believes it’s a waste of time to ____________
| A．develop a healthy personality |
| B．talk with as many people as possible |
| C．study where shyness comes from |
| D．look for ways to do away with one’s shyness |
. Which of the following is TRUE of Johnny Carson?
| A．He dared to speak in front of a national audience. |
| B．He did away with his shyness carefully. |
| C．He was described as a hero in some legend books. |
| D．He failed to become a good talk show host. |
. The author thinks that our shyness is there because _______
| A．we are not open enough |
| B．we don’t feel safe at heart |
| C．we try to reach out to others all the time |
| D．we lack certain social skills |
When 7-year-old Warren Buffet said “ I will be the richest man one day”, his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money, selling drinks, delivering newspapers and buying stocks. He had already earned $ 9,000 ( equal to $ 90,000 today) by the time he graduated from high school and became a millionaire at 32.
And this month the 77-year- old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of great investment in the stock market, made his childhood dream come true. With a fortune of $ 62billion, Buffet has risen to be the world’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine.
Born in 1930, Buffet, the only son of a stockbroker, started on achieving his billion-dollar dream at an early age and was always ready to think outside the box to develop his business. At 8 he went to golf courses collecting and selling used balls.
At 11 when he sold soda pop door to door with a friend, the pair collected lids on the streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.
As a paper boy during high school, Buffet delivered two rival (竞争对手的)papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffet bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collect rent.
Young Buffet stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $ 5. The experience taught him one of the virtues (品质) in investing: patience.
After graduating from university, Buffet started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-cola, Buffet has become rich.
“Learning is important to Buffet’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning, from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he finally over achieved his aptitude ( 才能) ，” said Charlie Munger, his long-time business partner.Which of the following questions has NOT been discussed in the selection？
| A．What is Buffet’s approach to investing. |
| B．How do other people view Buffet. |
| C．How has Buffet handled hardships in his life. |
| D．How did Buffet make a fortune and realize his dream. |
With the example of delivering two rival papers in high school, the author intends to tell us that Buffet______.
| A．had a good sense of business |
| B．was a good paper boy |
| C．was hard to deal with business |
| D．knew anything but how to make money |
. What did Buffet learn from his early experience of investing in stock market?
| A．You never stop learning. |
| B．Be patient in business. |
| C．Only buy stocks of solid companies that are undervalued and inexpensive. |
| D．Stick to buying stocks in companies such as American Express and Coca-cola. |
. Which of the following can most probably serve as the title of the selection?
| A．Buffet – Good Example for All |
| B．Buffet- a Newspaper Boy |
| C．Buffet- Investor in Stock Market |
| D．Buffet- a Successful Daydreamer |
For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect, Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication (含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall( 全面的) efforts, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of overpraise on 400 fifth grades while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on the tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“ Praising attributes (品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues efforts, so children are afraid to take on challenges, ” says Dweck, now at Stanford University. “They figure they’d better quit while they’ re ahead.”The underlined words “ Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are _______.
A. tired of being praised
B. worthy of being praised
C. very proud of being praised
D extremely fond of being praised.. The author quoted (引用) Dr. Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.
| A．better-known | B．better-organized |
| C．more believable | D．more interesting |
. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
| A．praise for efforts should be more encouraged |
| B．praise for results works better than praise for efforts |
| C．praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life. |
| D．praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges |
People often talk as if shyness is a disease or mental condition that can be cured. I prefer to think of it as an emotional disability. It’s something we are born with and something we carry with us in our entire lives. There are too many people, however, who seem to be determined to find some way of doing away with their shyness. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time. I don’t mean that we should do nothing about it; quite the contrary, I think we need to separate the basic fact of shyness from our ability to take part in a social environment.
Look at one of the most famous shy people of them all, Johnny Carson. This man is painfully shy, yet for decades he made a living talking and associating with different people every night, in front of a national audience. Carson has never done away with his shyness, but he has successfully found a way to deal with it to the extent that he could be, not just a talk show host, but a legend (传奇) among talk show hosts. Look also at Sally Fields, who has recently admitted her problem with shyness. This is a woman who has appeared in many films, TV shows and interviews, yet in her early years she was so shy that she turned down a lunch invitation from Jane Fonda because she was terribly afraid of meeting her.
I guess that our shyness is there because each of us is born with some insecurity (不安全感) and this insecurity prevents us from reading out to others the way people with a more open personality do. As we grow up and become adults, we allow our social skills to grow and develop. But we are still stuck in kindergarten or elementary school or wherever it was when our shyness took root in our soul.. In the author’s view, shyness can be explained as _________.
| A．a disease that can be easily cured |
| B．a not very normal mental condition |
| C．an emotional disability |
| D．something we pick up after birth |
. The author believes it’s a waste of time to ____________
| A．develop a healthy personality |
| B．talk with as many people as possible |
| C．study where shyness comes from |
| D．look for ways to do away with one’s shyness |
. Which of the following is TRUE of Johnny Carson?
| A．He dared to speak in front of a national audience. |
| B．He did away with his shyness carefully. |
| C．He was described as a hero in some legend books. |
| D．He failed to become a good talk show host. |
. The author thinks that our shyness is there because _______
| A．we are not open enough |
| B．we don’t feel safe at heart |
| C．we try to reach out to others all the time |
| D．we lack certain social skills |
When 7-year-old Warren Buffet said “ I will be the richest man one day”, his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money, selling drinks, delivering newspapers and buying stocks. He had already earned $ 9,000 ( equal to $ 90,000 today) by the time he graduated from high school and became a millionaire at 32.
And this month the 77-year- old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of great investment in the stock market, made his childhood dream come true. With a fortune of $ 62billion, Buffet has risen to be the world’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine.
Born in 1930, Buffet, the only son of a stockbroker, started on achieving his billion-dollar dream at an early age and was always ready to think outside the box to develop his business. At 8 he went to golf courses collecting and selling used balls.
At 11 when he sold soda pop door to door with a friend, the pair collected lids on the streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.
As a paper boy during high school, Buffet delivered two rival (竞争对手的)papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffet bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collect rent.
Young Buffet stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $ 5. The experience taught him one of the virtues (品质) in investing: patience.
After graduating from university, Buffet started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-cola, Buffet has become rich.
“Learning is important to Buffet’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning, from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he finally over achieved his aptitude ( 才能) ，” said Charlie Munger, his long-time business partner.Which of the following questions has NOT been discussed in the selection？
| A．What is Buffet’s approach to investing. |
| B．How do other people view Buffet. |
| C．How has Buffet handled hardships in his life. |
| D．How did Buffet make a fortune and realize his dream. |
With the example of delivering two rival papers in high school, the author intends to tell us that Buffet______.
| A．had a good sense of business |
| B．was a good paper boy |
| C．was hard to deal with business |
| D．knew anything but how to make money |
. What did Buffet learn from his early experience of investing in stock market?
| A．You never stop learning. |
| B．Be patient in business. |
| C．Only buy stocks of solid companies that are undervalued and inexpensive. |
| D．Stick to buying stocks in companies such as American Express and Coca-cola. |
. Which of the following can most probably serve as the title of the selection?
| A．Buffet – Good Example for All |
| B．Buffet- a Newspaper Boy |
| C．Buffet- Investor in Stock Market |
| D．Buffet- a Successful Daydreamer |