What’sthemostimportantthingfor-优题课

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．
By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．
These feelings of insecurity (不安全) and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．
In the author’s eye, one who views personal growth as a process would ______．

A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder

B．grow up from his own achievements

C．face difficulties and take up challenges

D．aim high and reach his goal each time

Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?

A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．

B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．

C．Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris．

D．Father’s salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000．

For personal growth, the author is in favor of all the following EXCEPT _______．

A．being curious about more changes

B．being quick in self-adaptation

C．having an open mind to new experiences

D．staying away from failures and challenges

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth

B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable

C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth

D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up

She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre museum(卢浮宫博物馆)where it is housed.
“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed the changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision(视觉)is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.
During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.
The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means the Mona Lisa ________.

A．is losing its value

B．is being damaged after so many years

C．is getting more valuable with years passing

D．will rot away

Experts haven’t any repairs on the Mona Lisa because______.

A．it is now in a poor chemical state

B．they don’t know how to replace the wooden panel

C．they don’t have the materials Da Vinci used

D．they are afraid it will be done further damage.

The smile of the Mona Lisa can only be seen_______.

A．by indirect vision

B．at a distance

C．by direct vision

D．in shadows

From the last paragraph, we can infer that______.

A．many interesting stories have been written about the Mona Lisa

B．people are interested in the stories about the Mona Lisa.

C．some mysteries still remain to be solved about the Mona Lisa.

D．Many more stories will be told about the Mona Lisa.

Divorces in Japan have more than doubled, according to health ministry statistics. One in three Japanese marriages now ends in divorce.
Atsuko Okano was in one of those failed marriages. Three years ago, she found herself alone in her 30s, with children to raise and a future full of question marks and social shame. But she also saw an opening, and became an advisor helping people like herself.
“My husband was cheating on me,” she recalled. ‘I did everything to bring him back to me but it didn’t work, so I dumped him.” Such frankness is a major characteristic of Japan’s recently divorced.
Divorced people – particularly woman – have long been looked down upon in Japan, where self-sacrifice and family stability are regarded as ideals. In the past, bored housewives remained bored. The security of the family unit was the most important thing. Now, young Japanese are increasingly choosing satisfaction in life over the demands of tradition, and more woman are financially independent. As a result, Japanese divorce rates are flying. Experts attribute this to the erosion of a long-standing double standard that granted divorced men respectability, but branded(gave somebody a bad name) divorced women as damaged goods.
Over the past decade, growing numbers of highly educated and successful professional women have challenged that assumption(something taken for granted) by turning their backs on unhappy marriages and paying no attention to the taboo（禁忌）of divorce. The majority of divorce behavior now is started by women.
This passage mainly talks about the fact that nowadays Japanese women _________.

A．are granted respectability after they get divorced

B．are becoming brave enough to challenge the taboo of divorce

C．still consider the security of the family unit to be very important

D．are becoming more financially independent

It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that Atsuko Okano __________.

A．had some children to raise

B．was very confident with her future

C．was not greatly respected by Japanese society

D．might have found a job to help divorced people

The underlined word “dumped” in paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A．looked down upon

B．had a quarrel with

C．hated

D．divorced

Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the reason for rising rate of Japanese divorces?

A．Self-sacrifice and family stability are not much appreciated in Japan as before.

B．More women can support themselves financially.

C．Divorced men and women can quickly find their new partners

D．Young Japanese care more about satisfaction in life than their elders did.

Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表)are an exception to the general rule. that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood. The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习)for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development
What’s the main idea of Paragraph 1

A．Children have a better memory than grown-ups.

B．People remember well what they learned in childhood.

C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words.“

D．Stories for children are easy to remember

The author explains the law of overlearning by

A．presenting research findings

B．setting down general rules

C．using examples

D．making a comparison

According to the author, being able to use multiplication tables is

A．a result of overlearning

B．a special case of cramming

C．a skill to deal with math problems

D．a basic step towards advanced studies

What is the author's opinion on cramming?

A．It leads to failure in college exams.

B．It increases students' learning interest.

C．It's possible to result in poor memory.

D．It's helpful only in a limited way.

Astronauts on shorter shuttle missions（使命）often work very long days. Tasks are scheduled so tightly that break times are often used to finish the day’s work. This type of schedule is far too demanding for long missions on the International Space Station（ISS）. ISS crewmembers usually live in space for at least a quarter of a year. They work five days on and two days off to mimic the normal way they do things on Earth as much as possible. Weekends give the crew valuable time to rest and do a few hours of housework. They can communicate with family and friends by email , internet phone and through private video conferences.
While astronauts cannot go to a baseball game or a movie in orbit, there are many familiar activities that they can still enjoy . Before a mission, the family and friends of each ISS crewmember put together a collection of family photos, messages, videos and reading material for the astronauts to look at when they will be floating 370 kilometers above the Earth. During their mission, the crew also receives care packages with CDs, books, magazines, photos and letters . And as from early 2010, the internet became available on the ISS , giving astronauts the chance to do some “web surfing（冲浪）”in their personal time. Besides relaxing with these more common entertainments, astronauts can simply enjoy the experience of living in space.
Many astronauts say that one of the most relaxing things to do in space is to look out the window and stare at the universe and the Earth’s vast land mass and oceans.
What does the word “mimic” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．find

B．lose

C．change

D．copy

Which of the following best describes the families of the astronauts on the ISS ?

A．They are caring and thoughtful.

B．They are worried and upset.

C．They are impatient and annoyed.

D．They are excited and curious.

In the final paragraph, the author shows that astronauts .

A．get more pleasure in space than on the Earth

B．love to see the Earth from space

C．regard space life as common

D．find living in space a bit boring and tiring

The passage mainly discusses how astronauts .

A．work for longer missions in space

B．connect with people on the Earth

C．spend their free time in space

D．observe the Earth from space

A．ask for help from others	B．say your prayers to God
C．change your attitude	D．try maths-solving methods