One day not too long ago the employees of a large company in St .Louis, Missouri returned from their lunch break and were greeted with a sign on the front door. The sign said: “Yesterday the person who has been hindering(阻碍) your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to attend the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym.”
At first everyone was sorry to hear that one of their colleagues had died, but after a while they started getting curious about who this person might be. The excitement grew as the employees arrived at the gym to pay their last respects. Everyone wondered: “Who is this person that was hindering my progress? Well, at least he’s no longer here! ”One by one the employees got closer to the coffin (棺材) and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood over the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: “There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is you.”
You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself. Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when you change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.The underlined word “funeral” in the first paragraph means ________.
| A．an occasion when one admires himself in a mirror |
| B．a chimney from where smelly smoke comes out |
| C．a ceremony for burying or burning a dead person |
| D．an exhibition displaying varieties of treasures |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Last Respects | B．A Strange Person |
| C．A Strange Company | D．A Road to Success |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The employees were shocked when they saw the dead person. |
| B．It is you yourself that can actually change your life. |
| C．In the mirror you can find how small you are in the world. |
| D．You can achieve your goal if you set limits to your growth. |
It seems that the company is ________.
| A．encouraging the employees to show respects to the dead |
| B．providing good working conditions for its employees |
| C．suffering a heavy loss due to its staff member’s death |
| D．trying to make its employees aware of their own potential |
My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”
Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen.
Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable（难以渗透的), the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol reflected people’s prevailing attitude toward money.
But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.
Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.
36. The main idea of this passage is that________.
| A．money is not as valuable as it was in the past |
| B．changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks |
| C．the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank |
| D．prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable |
37. How do the older generation and the younger one think about money respectively?
| A．The former thinks more of money than the latter. |
| B．The younger generation values money more than the older generation. |
| C．Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money. |
| D．To the former money is a real commodity but to the latter be a means to produce more money. |
38. The words “tangible commodity” (Line 2, Para. 4) refer to something ______.
| A．that can be replaceable | B．that is usable |
| C．that can be touched | D．that can be reproduced |
39. According to this passage, a modern banker should be _______.
| A．ambitious and friendly | B．reliable and powerful |
| C．sensible and impenetrable | D．imaginative and creative |
40. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is _______.
| A．cautious | B．regretful | C．positive | D．hostile |
Everyone has got two personalities—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behaviour, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive （不坦率的）person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You’re very stubborn, but you aren’t very ambitious. You usually live for today not for tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up（卷曲）, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive. You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You’re easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You’re usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.
31.According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality ___________.
| A．only in a normal night | B．only when you go to sleep |
| C．only when you refuse to show yourself to the world | |
| D．only when you change sleeping position |
32．Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person’s personality？
| A．He or she is always open with others. |
| B．He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others. |
| C．He or she is always easily upset. |
| D．He or she tends to believe in others. |
33．Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach？
| A．He or she is careful not to offend others. |
| B．He or she doesn’t want to stick to his or her opinion. |
| C．He or she probably can’t be successful in business. |
| D．He or she likes to bring others happiness. |
34．Maybe you don’t want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up. Why？
| A．He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you. |
| B．He or she is rarely ready to help you. |
| C．He or she prefers staying at home to going out. |
| D．He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you. |
35．It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because ___________.
| A．he or she always shows sympathy for people |
| B．he or she is confident，but not stubborn |
| C．he or she has more strengths than weaknesses |
| D．he or she often considers annoying people |
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all — all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" English. But I feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken", as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked certain wholeness. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions(认识) of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother's "limited" English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won't get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for a lack of a better term might be described as "broken", and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal (内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.
46. By saying "Language is the tool of my trade", the author means that ______.
| A．she uses English in foreign trade | B．she is fascinated by languages |
| C．she works as a translator | D．she is a writer by profession |
47. The author used to think of her mother's English as ______.
| A．impolite | B．amusing | C．imperfect | D．practical |
48. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
| A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
| B．The author's mother was not respected sometimes. |
| C．The author' mother had positive influence on her. |
| D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
49. The author gradually realizes her mother's English is _____.
| A．well structured | B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate | D．rich in meaning |
50. What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The changes of the author's attitude to her mother's English. |
| B．The limitation of the author's perception of her mother. |
| C．The author's misunderstanding of "limited" English. |
| D．The author's experiences of using broken English. |
Specialists say it is not easy to get used to life in a new culture. “Culture shock” is the term these specialists use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. There are three stages of culture shock, say the specialists. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people, and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers begin to adjust to their surroundings and, as a result, enjoy their life more.
There are some obvious factors in culture shock. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems—the telephones, post office, or transportation—may be difficult to work out. The simplest things seem to be big problems. The language may be difficult.
Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their own community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without any identity. They have to build a new self-image.
Culture shock gives rise to a feeling of disorientation （迷失方向）. This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create an escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience — these are the long-term solutions to the problem of culture shock.
41. When people move to a new country, they _______.
| A．will get used to their new surroundings with difficulty |
| B．have well prepared for the new surroundings |
| C．will get used to the culture of the country quickly |
| D．will never be familiar with the culture of the country |
42. According to the passage, factors that give rise to culture shock include all of the following except __________.
| A．language communication | B．weather conditions and customs |
| C．public service systems | D．homesickness |
43. According to the passage, the more successful you are at home, _______.
| A．the fewer difficulties you may have abroad |
| B．the more difficulties you may have abroad |
| C．the more money you will earn abroad |
| D．the less homesick you may feel abroad |
44. When people are homesick, they tend to ______.
| A．find some people to talk to | B．go outside to have a walk |
| C．visit their friends far away | D．stay indoors all the time |
45. The writer tells us that the best way to overcome culture shock is to ______.
| A．protect ourselves from unfamiliar environment |
| B．develop a strange sense of self-protection |
| C．get familiar with new culture |
| D．return to our own country |
Michael, a typical American, stays home on workdays. He plugs into his personal computer terminal in order to connect with the office. After work, he puts on his headphones, watches a movie on his home video recorder, or plays baseball on the computer. On many days, Michael doesn’t talk to any other human beings, and he doesn’t see any people except the ones on television. Michael is imaginary, but his life style is very possible. The inventions of modern technology seem to be cutting us off from contact with our fellow human beings.
The world of business is one area in which technology is isolating us. Experts say, for example, that many people will soon be able to work at home. With access to a large central computer, employees such as office clerks, insurance agents, and accountants could do their jobs at display terminals in their own homes. They would never have to actually see the people they’re dealing with. In addition, the way employees are paid will change. Workers’ salaries will be automatically paid into their bank accounts, making paper checks unnecessary. No workers will stand in line to receive their pay or cash their check. Personal banking will change, too. Customers will deal with machines to put in or take out money from their accounts. Another area that technology is changing is entertainment. Music, for instance, was once a group experience. People listened to music at concert halls or in small social gatherings. For many people now, however, music is an individual experience. Walking along the street or sitting in their living rooms, they wear headphones to build a wall of music around them. Movie entertainment is changing, too. Movies used to be social events. Now fewer people are going out to see a movie. Many more are choosing to wait for a film to appear on television or are borrowing videotapes to watch at home. Instead of laughing with others, viewers watch movies in their own living rooms.
36. After work, Michael likes to ________.
| A．listen to music at the concert hall |
| B．watch a movie in his living room |
| C．run a program on his computer in his office |
| D．play baseball with his workmates |
37. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Clerks will be able to work at home. |
| B．One can play baseball on the computer. |
| C．One can listen to music without disturbing others. |
| D．One can borrow books from libraries at home. |
38. The sentence “Michael is imaginary, but his lifestyle is very possible” means ________.
| A．Michael is a person full of imagination and he can make his dreams come true |
| B．Michael is not a real person but the lifestyle does exist |
| C．Michael has ambitions but he can’t make his dreams come true |
| D．Michael is a person full of imagination and his lifestyle is common nowadays |
39. What will the author most probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．Games and sports. | B．Personal banking. |
| C．Music and films. | D．International business. |
40. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．We may no longer need to communicate with other human beings. |
| B．Modern technology seems to be separating human being. |
| C．We may no longer need to work in the office. |
| D．Modern technology makes it possible for us to work and entertain ourselves at home. |