136 Crestview Circle
Dover, Connecticut
January 16, 1995
Gander’s Furniture Store
Stamford, Connecticut, 09876
Dear Sir,
I am writing about your January bill, which I am returning with this letter. I am not going to pay this bill. Last month I bought a table and four chairs for $65.50. They were sent to me on December 18. That night one leg of the table broke while my wife was putting our dinner on it. It fell on one of the chair, and that broke, too. Our $ 2.50 steak(牛排) landed on the floor, and the dog ate it.
I spoke to the salesmen who had sold me the table and the chairs. He told me to write you a letter. I wrote you on December 20, saying that I was not going to pay for the furniture. On December 21 some men came and took it back to the store.
Please do something about your records. I do not want to receive another bill for the furniture which I returned.
Yours truly
Alberts RobbinsFrom the letter we can know that Mr. Robbins had actually paid _____ for the table and the four chairs.
| A．$ 65.50 | B．$ 68.00 | C．$ 2.50 | D．no money |
Why do you think Mr. Robbins write the letter to the furniture store?
| A．He had paid for the furniture but was asked to pay again. |
| B．He didn’t want to receive a second bill for the furniture he had returned. |
| C．The furniture he bought was badly made and he wanted to return it. |
| D．He wanted the manager to scold the salesmen for the bad furniture. |
Try to guess how Mr. Robins felt when he was writing the letter.
| A．He was angry. | B．He was sad. | C．He was anxious. | D．He was friendly. |
Surfing the Internet for fun will make you a better employee,according to an Australian study.
The University of Melbourne study shows that people who use the Internet for their own reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive than those who do not. Study author brent Coker said“Surfing the Internet at times helps increase an employee’s attention.”
“People need to relax for a bit to get back their attention,”Coker said on the university’s website.”Having a short break, such as a quick surfing of the Internet, helps the mind to rest itself,leading to a higher total Internet attention for a day’s work, and as a result, increase productivity(生产效率),”he said.
According to the study of 300 workers ,70 percent of people who use the Internet at work surf the Internet for their own reasons during office hours. Among the most popular surfing activities are searching for information about products, reading online news, playing online games and watching videos.”Firms spend a lot of money on software to block their employees from watching video, using social networking sites or shopping online, ”said Coker.”that’s not always a good idea.”
However, Coker said the study looked at people who surfed the Internet in moderation(),or were on the Internet for lee than 20 percent of their total time in the office.”Those who spend too much time surfing the Internet will have a lower productivity than those without,”he said.What does the University of Melbourne study mainly show?
| A．People who surf the Internet are good employees. |
| B．Not everyone surfs the Internet for fun during office hours. |
| C．Surfing the Internet for fun during office hours increase productivity. |
| D．The Internet is becoming more and more important in people’s life. |
According to paragraph 3,Brent Coker would most probably agree that ________.
| A．the longer a person’s mind rests the better attention he will have. |
| B．surfing the Internet is the best way to increase productivity. |
| C．workers should have a long break during office hours |
| D．workers should let their minds rest now and then. |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage as one of the most popular surfing activities?
| A．Watching videos. | B．reading online news. |
| C．Reading online novels. | D．Playing online games. |
The underlined word “block” in paragraph 4 means “_______”.
| A．prevent | B．cycle | C．burst | D．breathe |
What can we infer from the last paragraph？
| A．Spending too much time surfing the Internet reduces productivity. |
| B．Those who never surf the Internet have the lowest productivity. |
| C．Most people don’t surf the internet in modernation during office hours. |
| D．People should spend as little time as possible surfing the Internet. |
We probably all know people, either at work or in our personal lives, who are really good listeners. No matter what kind of situation we’re in, they always seem to know just what to say and how to say it so that we’re not offended(被冒犯) or upset. We probably also know people who are masters at managing their emotions(情绪). They don’t get angry in stressful situations. Instead, they have the ability to calmly look at a problem and find a solution. They take criticism(批评) well, and they know when to use it to improve their performance.
People like these who have a high degree of emotional intelligence, or EI(情商). They know themselves very well, and they’re also able to sense the emotional needs of others.
As more and more people accept that emotional intelligence is just as important to professional success as technical(专业的) ability, companies are increasingly using EI when they hire and promote(提拔) someone. For example, one large cosmetics (化妆品) company recently changed their hiring process for salespeople to choose candidates(被选的人) based on emotional intelligence. The result? Salespeople hired with the new system have sold, on average, $91,000 more than salespeople selected under the old system.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what they are telling you, and realize how your emotions affect people around you. Emotional intelligence also involves your perception (洞察力) of others: when you understand how they feel, this allows you to manage relationships more effectively.
People with high emotional intelligence are usually successful in most things they do. Why? Because they are the ones that others want on their team. When people with high EI send an email, it get answered. When they need help, they get it. Because they make others feel good, they go through life much more easily than people who are easily angered or upset.
The good news is that emotional intelligence can be taught and developed. Many books and tests are available to help you determine your current EI, and identify where you may need to do some work. According to the passage, we’re all probably impressed by people who _____.
| A．are ready to help others |
| B．are very successful in their lives |
| C．have high emotional intelligence |
| D．know how to control their temper |
By mentioning the cosmetics company, the author tries to _____.
| A．stress the importance of emotional intelligence |
| B．speak highly of its new salespeople |
| C．show its effective hiring system |
| D．explain what improvements it has made |
The underlined word “they” in the fourth paragraph refers to “_____”.
| A．your emotions | B．people around you |
| C．effective relationships | D．your opinions of others |
Which statement is TRUE about people with high EI?
| A．They are usually good speakers. |
| B．They are born to be sensitive and intelligent. |
| C．They don’t get angry in any situation. |
| D．They can understand others’ feelings well. |
What’s most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．What emotional intelligence is. |
| B．How emotional intelligence can be improved. |
| C．Many books on emotional intelligence. |
| D．More people with high emotional intelligence. |
The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” –-- and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer --- which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet ---used the title in 2008. A lovely bear --- popular in the US and UK --- that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London’s Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce(电子商务) first came into use.
Most “i” products are targeted at （针对）young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s“ i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition（定义）,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade(十年).
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared. People use iPlayer to __________.
| A．listen to music | B．make a call |
| C．watch TV programs online | D．read newspapers |
We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is designed for _________.
| A．young readers | B．old readers | C．fashionable women | D．engineers |
The underlined word “ambiguous” means “__________”.
| A．popular | B．uncertain | C．clear | D．unique |
Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are __________.
| A．portable | B．environmentally friendly | C．advanced | D．recyclable |
The writer suggests that __________.
| A．“i” products are often of high quality |
| B．iTeddy is alive bear |
| C．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products |
| D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five, he gave 12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk，Johnson said that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy—five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. “I have an injection(注射)in my neck each evening.” he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky. The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through _________.
| A．doing business. | B．making whisky. |
| C．cheating. | D．buying and selling land. |
The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson __________.
| A．had no children. | B．was a strange man. |
| C．was very fond of children. | D．wanted people to know how rich he was. |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out __________.
| A．what kind of whisky he had. | B．how to live longer. |
| C．how to become wealthy. | D．in which part of the neck to have an injection. |
The newspaperman ____________.
| A．should have reported what Johnson had told him. |
| B．shouldn‘t have asked Johnson what injection he had. |
| C．was eager to live a long life. |
| D．should have found out what Johnson really meant. |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening he really meant that ______.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening |
| B．he needed an injection in the neck. |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well. |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck |
Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.
The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span(寿命) can be prolonged.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial family being a good example, have hereditary(遗传的) diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientist just need to find the wrong gene and correct it, and a healthy child will be born.
Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep, therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the government must take care to control gene technology.What does “these two killers” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．Gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases. |
| B．The two murderers who killed the cloned baby. |
| C．The two diseases of cancer and heart disease. |
| D．Hereditary diseases and cancer. |
What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?
| A．How gene technology can be applied in the field of treating hereditary diseases. |
| B．Gene technology can be used to clone human babies. |
| C．Gene technology can help people to give birth to a baby. |
| D．Gene technology can help the English imperial family out. |
In what way gene technology can help to treat hereditary diseases?
| A．Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can have more living days. |
| B．Using gene technology, the scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it. |
| C．Using gene technology, human babies can be cloned. |
| D．Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology. |
What is the main purpose of writing this passage?
| A．Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people. |
| B．Telling people the disadvantages of gene technology. |
| C．Telling the readers that gene technology will not benefit people. |
| D．Explaining that gene technology will also do harm to the humanity. |