The fourth of July marks the anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain. During the summer of 1776, American colonists were deeply divided. Almost one in three was loyal to Britain. Yet most were increasingly angry about what they considered unfair treatment by the British government. By June, fighting had already taken place between colonial forces and Britain. The idea of independence was spreading.
Delegates (代表) from the thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress decided that a document declaring separation from Britain should be declared. Thomas Jefferson led a committee chosen to write it.
On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence. It says that people have the right to change their government if it denies them their rights. It states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit (追求) of happiness.
Today, the Fourth of July holiday is a time for friends and families to gather. They might play sports and eat hot dogs, hamburgers and other foods cooked outdoors. They might watch a parade in their community. At night, many people gather to watch fireworks bursting in the dark sky.
In Washington, D. C. this year (2011), thousands of people attended a concert with performances by musicians. There was also a huge fireworks show with more than two thousand five hundred shells exploding over the National Mall.
Another event that traditionally took place on the National Mall was the Smithsonian Folk life Festival. This year’s event celebrated the cultures of Mexico and Asian Pacific Americans. Visitors heard the music, eat the food and learn about the many traditions of these cultures.
The third subject of the festival was called “Smithsonian Inside Out”. Smithsonian experts had a chance to present their research and knowledge to the public.Why was the idea of independence spreading before July 4, 1776? (No more than 10 words)
What right does everyone have according to the Declaration of Independence? (No more than 13 rds)
What does the Fourth of July holiday mean to Americans today? (No more than 10 words)
What happened at “Smithsonian Inside Out” this year (in 2011)? (No more than 12 words)
A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
“You are employed,” he said.“Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in, as well as date whenyou may start. ”
The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an email.”
“I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an email, that means you do not exist.And who doesn’t exist cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do, with only $10 in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10Kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he managed to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times, and returned home with $60.
The man realized that he could survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family’s future, and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker, and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, “I don’t have an email.”
The broker answered curiously, “You don’t have an email, and yet have managed to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”Why can’t the man have the job at Microsoft?
| A．Because he was lazy. | B．Because he didn't pass the test. |
| C．Because he didn’t have an e-mail. | D．Because he didn’t have the application. |
The underlined word “tripled” can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．became 3 times | B．became large |
| C．increased quickly | D．decreased quickly |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world. |
| B．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft. |
| C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the supermarket. |
| D．The man didn’t give up though he failed the interview. |
Which proverb can be the title of the story?
| A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing (幸事). |
| B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Accidents will happen. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
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（外部的） result or product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language--- all these are 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 by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they go through new experiences and unexpected obstacles．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 be faced with 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 essential to our ability to grow．
These feelings of insecurity and self – doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we do not face and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when______．．
| A．he has given up his smoking habit |
| B．he has made great efforts in his work |
| C．he is interested in making anything new |
| D．he has tried to determine where he is on his journey |
In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would______．
| A．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements |
| B．succeed in climbing up the social ladder |
| C．face difficulties and take up challenges |
| D．aim high and reach his goal each time |
When the author says “a new way of being” （para．3）, he is referring to _____．
| A．a new way of taking risks |
| B．a new approach to experiencing the world |
| C．a new system of adapting to change |
| D．a new method of finding ourselves |
For personal growth, the author may not support __________．．
| A．curiosity and more chances |
| B．being quick in self – adaptation |
| C．open – minded to new experiences |
| D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts |
Researchers at the University of Kansas say that people can accurately judge 90 percent of a stranger's personality simply by looking at the person's shoes．
"Shoes convey a thin but useful slice of information about their wearers," the authors wrote in the new study published in the Journal of Research in Personality．"Shoes serve a practical purpose, and also serve as nonverbal cues with symbolic messages．People tend to pay attention to the shoes they and others wear．"
Medical Daily notes that the number of detailed personality traits detected in the study include a person's general age, their gender, income, political affiliation, and other personality traits, including someone's emotional stability．
Lead researcher Omri Gillath said the judgments were based on the style, cost, color and condition of someone's shoes．In the study, 63 University of Kansas students looked at pictures showing 208 different pairs of shoes worn by the study's participants．Volunteers in the study were photographed in their most commonly worn shoes, and then filled out a personality questionnaire．
So, what do your shoes say about your personality?
Some of the results were expected: People with higher incomes most commonly wore expensive shoes, and flashier footwear was typically worn by extroverts（外向性格的人）．
However, some of the more specific results are intriguing．For example, "practical and functional" shoes were generally worn by more "agreeable" people, while ankle boots were more closely aligned with "aggressive" personalities．
The strangest of all may be that those who wore "uncomfortable looking" shoes tend to have "calm" personalities．
And if you have several pairs of new shoes or take exceptional care of them, you may suffer from "attachment anxiety," spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about what other people think of your appearance．
There was even a political calculation in the mix with more liberal types wearing "shabbier and less expensive" shoes．
The researchers noted that some people will choose shoe styles to mask their actual personality traits, but researchers noted that volunteers were also likely to be unaware that their footwear choices were revealing deep insights into their personalities．We learn from the text that shoes one wears may．
| A．be used to judge others’ personality accurately |
| B．show thick and useful information about one’s personality |
| C．convey useful information including one’s emotional stability |
| D．only convey some information about one’s personality |
Which of the following is not true according to the text?
| A．People who wear practical and functional shoes may be hard to deal with． |
| B．People with high incomes probably wear expensive shoes． |
| C．Ankle boots are closely aligned with “aggressive” personalities． |
| D．People wearing “uncomfortable looking” shoes tend to be calm． |
What can be the best title for this article?
| A．Shoes and Information | B．Shoes and One’s Personality |
| C．Shoes One Wears | D．Judging One’s Personality |
For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner．Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict．In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it．From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness．And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely．Both feel trapped．
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap．The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things．Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends．Second, blaming．The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong．Third, needing to be right．It doesn’t matter what the topic is．The laws of physics or the proper way to break an egg —the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something — and therefore to command respect．Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress．Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?
| A．Both can continue for generations． |
| B．Neither can be put to an end． |
| C．Neither has any clear winner． |
| D．Both are about where to draw the line． |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．The teens cause their parents to mislead them． |
| B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict |
| C．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict． |
| D．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents |
Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________．
| A．give orders to the other | B．gain respect from the other |
| C．know more than the other | D．get the other to behave properly |
What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Solutions for the parent –teen problems． |
| B．Examples of the parent –teen war． |
| C．Causes for the parent –teen conflicts． |
| D．Future of the parent-teen relationship． |
GAOMI, Shandong, Oct．11（ Xinhua）—Chinese writer Mo Yan said last Thursday that he was "very surprised" at winning the Nobel Literature Prize．
Speaking to reporters at a hotel in his hometown Gaomi city in east China's Shandong Province, Mo said, "（I was）very surprised upon winning the prize because I felt I was not very senior in terms of qualification（among Chinese writers）．There are many good writers and my ranking was not so high．"
"I am very happy," he said．"I was having dinner when I received the news．I was surprised．”
"Thank you for coming all the way to Gaomi．This should be a season of red sorghum, but no such crop is planted any more．I believe none of you have seen the crop," he said．
"The Nobel Literature Prize is a very important literature prize, but not the top award．It represents the opinions of the jury（评审团 ）．I am satisfied with my major works and I still keep writing by hand．My works are Chinese literature, which is part of world literature．They show the life of Chinese people as well as the country's unique culture and folk customs．Meanwhile, my novels described human beings in the broad sense．I wrote in the perspective of a human being．These works stand beyond regions and ethnic groups," he said．
"The folk arts and folk culture accompanied my growth and I was influenced by the cultural elements I witnessed through my childhood．When I picked up the pen for literature creation, the folk cultural elements inevitably entered my novels and affected and even determined the artistic styles of my works," he added．
Mo's win brought joy to other writers and readers throughout the country as he is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Literature Prize in its century--long history．
Born into a farmer's family in a village in Gaomi, Mo has been known since the late 1980s for his novels such as Big Breasts and Wide Hips and Red Sorghum, which was later adapted into a film by director Zhang Yimou．Mo Yan was surprised at winning the Nobel Prize because he felt．
| A．he was not the best writer in China |
| B．he was not as famous as other writers |
| C．he was born in a farmer's family |
| D．he didn't have good education |
By reading Mo Yan's works, we can．
| A．increase our sense of national pride |
| B．learn a lot about the Chinese folk culture |
| C．form a vivid picture of his childhood |
| D．learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize |
Which of the following words can best describe Mo Yan?
| A．romantic | B．self--confident |
| C．modest | D．humorous |
Where might you find the article?
| A．In a novel． | B．In a travel book． |
| C．In a student book． | D．In a newspaper． |