When we think of leadership, we often think of strength and power. But what are these really, and how do they operate?
Leadership today is not about forcing others to do things. If this is even possible, it is short-term, and tends to backfire. If you order someone to do something against their will, they may do it because they feel they must, but the anger they feel will do more harm in the long-term. They will also experience fear.
Fear causes the thinking brain to shut down, making the person unable to function at his or her best. If they associate you with this emotion of fear, they will become less functional around you, and you will have succeeded in not only shooting yourself in the foot, but possibly making a very good employee or partner unable to perform effectively. Fear has no place in leadership.
The way we influence people in a lasting way is by our own character, and our understanding and use of emotion. We can order someone to do something, which may be part of the work day; or we can employ them at the emotional level, so they became fully devoted to the projects and provide some of their own motivation(积极性). Today’s work place is all about relationships.
Anyone works harder in a positive environment in which they’re recognized and valued as a human being as well as a worker. Everyone produces just a bit more for someone they like. Leaders understand the way things work. They know the pay check is not the single most motivating factor (因素) in the work life of most people.
The true strength of leadership is an inner strength that comes from the confidence of emotional intelligence---knowing your own emotions, and how to handle them, and those of others. Developing your emotional intelligence is the single best thing you can do if you want to develop your relationships with people around you, which is the key to the leadership skills.An employee may have a feeling of fear in the work place when___.
A.he is forced to do things |
B.be cannot work at his best |
C.he feels his brain shut down |
D.he thinks of his work as too heavy |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.People tend to associate leadership with fear |
B.Working conditions affect people’s physical health |
C.Good relationship is the key to business success |
D.Smart people are more functional in the work place |
To positively influence employees a leader should first of all __.
A.provide better suggestions |
B.develop his own personality |
C.give his employees a pay raise |
D.hide his own emotion of fear |
A good leadership is mainly seen in a leader’s ability to___
A.provide a variety of project for employees |
B.help raise employee’s living standards |
C.give employees specific instructions |
D.deal wisely with employees’ emotions |
It is natural that children are curious about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world.Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry.
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world.For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.People of different ages are interested in different things |
B.People in different countries are interested in different things. |
C.Men and women are curious about different things. |
D.People are curious in the same way. |
Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.
A.the earth , the oceans and the sky | B.plants and animals |
C.man-made things | D.ocean water |
When you run, your muscles need ____.
A.more nutrition and oxygen | B.more signals | C.more salt | D.water |
A rock cracks _____.
A.in wet regions | B.in dry regions |
C.at very high or very low temperatures | D.when salty water falls in |
People are always curious because ____.
A.they cannot explain many things | B.they know nothing about the world |
C.they know little about the world | D.they want to be scientists |
Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain. Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health. They describe chocolate as “something to die for” or say “death by chocolate”.Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence(证据) is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:
A happier heart
Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa—the main ingredient in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart.Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow.These benefits are the result of cocoa’s chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation(炎症).
Better blood pressure
If yours is high, chocolate may help.Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly.
Muscle magicChocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout(锻炼).In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks.
Better for your skin.German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day.After three months, the women’s skin was moister(滑润的)and smoother.The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance.
Brain gains
It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving by increasing blood flow to the brain.Which of the following is wrong?
A.Coca’s chemicals can prevent both cell damage and inflammation. |
B.Chocolate may help you lower your blood pressure. |
C.People early know chocolate is good for their health. |
D.chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph?
A.Sports drinks are better than chocolate milk. |
B.Sports drinks can make people easy to be tired. |
C.Drinking milk can keep you energetic at work. |
D.We should drink chocolate milk between times when we work hard. |
What’s the main idea of the text?
A.Chocolate, a Healthy Food | B.More Chocolate, Less Health |
C.Chocolate and Blood Pressure | D.Advice on Eating Chocolate |
The conclusion that chocolate may help lower blood pressure was brought out by.
A.scientists at Harvard University |
B.Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University |
C.scientis![]() |
D.German researchers |
What’s the meaning of “bite their tongues” in the first paragraph?
A.Think of it.. | B.Speak up. | C. Stop talking | D.Listen to it |
He wishes the holiday season would end already. His back aches, his red suit feels like a spacesuit , his cheeks have gone tight from smiling for 12 hours —and still the kids keep coming and coming , like ants at a picnic . As Christmas becomes more commercialized (商业化) across the U. S. and Canada, so must Santas. As the holiday begins earlier each year, so must its spokesmen .
The questions from children these days are harder than ever. Now, with thousands of children expecting a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the questions are as heart-breaking as they are unanswerable. For example, “Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning?”
Santas also have a pretty good chance of getting sued (指控). A professional Santa Claus in Canada told a story: A Santa had a girl on his knee, and he commented, “You have nice eyes and nice hair.” The girl later said it was sexual harassment (骚扰) . When a Santa feels anxious, he often shows it in the same ways ordinary people do: The Santas were always seen to hang around at the dinner table when the show ended. Many of them just sleep in bed for several days and don’t see other children again.In the first paragraph, “spokesmen” refers to.
A.businessmen | B.political leaders |
C.organizers of the activities | D.Santa Clauses |
The passage implies that the job of Santa Claus is.
A.well-paid | B.very hard | C.worth doing | D.dangerous |
According to the third paragraph, Santas may sometimes be blamed(责备) for.
A.doing something against the law | B.hanging around the dinner table |
C.being lazy and sleeping in bed for days | D.not playing their roles as expected |
What would be the best title for the passage ?
A.Christmas: Not a Good Festival for Santas | B.Is Santa Claus Really Alive? |
C.A Christmas Story | D.What Does Santa Claus Do for Children? |
Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia was delivered to my house. No card came with it. Calls to the flower-shop were not helpful at all. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s name and just delighted in the beautiful white flower in soft pink paper.
But I never stopped imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender. My mother encouraged these imaginings. She’d ask me if there was someone for whom I had done special kindness. Perhaps it was the old man across the street whose mail I’d delivered during the winter. As a girl, though, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I had run into.
One month before my graduation, my father died. I felt so sad that I became completely uninterested in my upcoming graduation dance, and I didn’t care if I had a new dress or not. But my mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable. In truth, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia-lovely, strong and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery(神秘).My mother died ten days after I was married. I was 22. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.A childhood Dream. | B.A Mother’s Love. |
C.A Graduation Party. | D.A Special Birthday. |
The mother insisted that her daughter go to the graduation dance because _________.
A.she could take care of things herself | B.she hoped she would find a boyfriend |
C.she wanted her to be happy and strong | D.she thought education was most important |
Who was the sender of the flower?
A.A boy the writer had run into. | B.One of the writer’s neighbors. |
C.One of the writer’s classmates. | D.The writer’s mother. |
Food
British people like good food, and more than half of them go to a restaurant every month. Fast food is also very popular---30% of all adults have a hamburger every three months, but 46% have fish and chips!
Sports
British people don’t do a lot of sports. Only 17% of people go swimming every week, about 9% go cycling and 8% play golf--- and only 6% of people play football (but 32% go to watch it).
Cinema and TV
Films are very popular in Britain, and about 60% of the young people go to the cinema every month. At home, men watch TV for about three hours every day ---30 minutes more than women.
Holidays
British people love going on holiday, and have 56 holidays every year. Most of these holidays aren’t spent in the UK---27% are in Spain. 10% are in the USA, and 9% are in France. Maybe this is because the weather in Britain isn’t very good!
Presents
British people don’t send others expensive presents like other Europeans. They often send chocolates, wine and flowers of good quality(质量). Which food could be more popular among Briti sh adults, a hamburger or fish and chips?
A.A hamburger. | B.Fish and chips. | C.Both. | D.Neither. |
Those who are interested in movies are _____.
A.men | B.women | C.young people | D.old people |
How long do British women spend watching TV every day?
A.Three hours. | B.Three hours and a half. | C.Two hours. | D.Two hours and a half. |
British people’s favorite country for a holiday is _____.
A.Spain | B.France | C.America | D.Australia |
What present don’t British people often send?
A.Chocolat es. | B.Wine. | C.Flowers. | D.Money. |