We would probably all be amazed if we watched a videotape of ourselves performing basically unconscious acts as we go about the business of the day. These unconscious acts consist of all the little personal habits that we don’t even think about, but definitely should. These are some of the things that present an image of who we are to others, and if we are careless in performing them, this image may well be other than we would like it to be.
Parents who insist that their children practice good manners and habits at home are doing them a great service, for these habits then become lifelong and the natural way they do things. It proves true that their unconscious actions will reflect a well-mannered person.
People who, for example, eat with both arms on the table at home will likely do so when out. Those who are lazy and slow in private will certainly be so in public. Children who are permitted to be disrespectful to their parents will follow suit with other adults, and will, most likely, become adults who are disrespectful of others. This is an area where the saying “practice makes perfect” may be applied.
There is an article about the actress, Audrey Hepburn, known for her beautiful carriage and posture. According to her biographer, her grandmother tied her neck to the back of her chair, at table, so that she would not drop down suddenly over her food, but rather would learn to put only small amounts of food on her spoon or fork and bring them to her mouth. This is a rather extreme “at home” method for the development of erect (直立的) posture, but it does illustrate the effectiveness of practicing good habits so that, when in public, they are instinctive.Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A.Parents should be responsible for their children’s good habits. |
| B.The actress is well known for her beautiful posture. |
| C.We should always be aware of our manners. |
| D.Without good manners, one can never be perfect. |
Those who eat with both arms on the table at home ______.
| A.will probably change the habit when eating out with their relatives |
| B.will probably have the same habit when they have meals in the restaurant |
| C.will feel embarrassed when having meals with so many strangers in public |
| D.will always put their arms on the table no matter where they eat |
The meaning of “practice makes perfect” in the third paragraph is ______.
| A.the more practice one has, the better job he will do |
| B.the more perfect one is, the more practice he needs |
| C.if one has enough practice, he will become perfect |
| D.perfect makes a person practice more |
Which of the following are NOT true?
| A.If we are not careful about our unconscious acts, the images of ourselves presented to others will be quite undesirable. |
| B.The good habits formed in one’s childhood will benefit him throughout his life. |
| C.If parents do not care about the disrespectful attitude adopted by their children towards themselves, their children might be disrespectful to others. |
| D.It is unlikely that a well-mannered person will not embarrass himself in public. |
For a while, my neighborhood was taken over by an army of joggers(慢跑的人). They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. “Come on!” My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. “You’ll feel great.”
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army. I’m not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet are a real pounding(沉重的脚步) running down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn’t kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn’t my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, “I love being out there with just my thoughts” Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn’t just the first week—it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn’t fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don’t jog any more, and I don’t think I ever will. I’m walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I’m getting exercise, and I’m enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I’ve found a lot of better ways to stay in shape. From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer’s neighborhood _________.
| A.Jogging became very popular |
| B.People jogged only during the daytime |
| C.Alex organized an army of joggers |
| D.Jogging provided a chance to get together |
The underlined word “them”(Paragraph 3) most probably refers to _____.
| A.heart attacks | B.back problems |
| C.hundreds of people | D.physical weaknesses |
From the writer’s experience, we can conclude that_____
| A.Jogging can help people keep fit |
| B.Many physical problems result from jogging |
| C.Not everyone enjoys jogging |
| D.Jogging makes people feel greater |
National Forecast
LONDON —This Evening and Tonight:
Rain, locally heavy across northwest Scotland. Mostly cloudy but dry in other northern and western areas. Dry with clear spells(持续时间)in more central and eastern parts, but some low cloud and fog will develop. Generally mild with light winds.
Saturday:
Cloud and rain over western Scotland at the beginning will gradually push down over N. Ireland and northwest England. Largely dry, warm with sunny spells elsewhere, once early fog and low cloud clears.
http://www.times.online.co.uk/tol/news/weather/
The Nation's Weather
Fri, Aug 24,
NEW YORK—Heavy rain was forecast throughout Friday in parts of the Midwest. The heaviest rainfall was over northern Illinois, with more than 4 inches possible around Chicago.
Wet weather was also expected in the Plains as the same storm system tracks through the region.
Periods of heavy rain were also forecast for the Northeast as the remnant(剩余部分)of tropical storm Erin moves into the Canadian Maritimes.
Hot weather was expected to continue in the South and West.
http://www.underground.com
Death toll rises to 36 in China typhoon
Wed, Aug 22,
BEIJING— At least 36 people were killed by Typhoon Sepat in four provinces in eastern and central China in widespread destruction that also forced the evacuation (撤退)of l.37 million people.
More than 60,000 homes in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan also were destroyed or damaged, Xinhua News Agency said.
Total economic losses in the provinces have reached $ 663 million.
Fujian was the worst-hit province, with 18 people killed, Xinhua said.
Earlier, the storm, named after a Malaysian fish, killed at least one person in Taiwan, and left three dead in the Philippines.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/apOn August 25, in N. Ireland and northwest England, there will be _____.
| A.low cloud and fog | B.typhoon and flood |
| C.cloud and rain | D.sunshine and mild wind |
What was the weather like in the south and west of the USA on Thursday?
| A.It was hot. | B.It was rainy. |
| C.It was foggy. | D.It was warm. |
The storm named Sepat _____.
| A.caused one death in the Philippines |
| B.killed 18 people in Taiwan |
| C.destroyed about 60,000 homes in Fujian |
| D.caused great economic losses |
The name of Typhoon Sepat comes from _____.
| A.a tropical storm | B.a Malaysian fish |
| C.a place | D.a person |
There was a woman, about 30 years old, married with two children. She had grown up in a home where she was constantly criticized and often treated unfairly by her parents. As a result, she was negative and fearful, and had no confidence at all.
One day, she was hit by a car. When she awoke, she found herself in a hospital. She could still speak, but had no recollection of any part of her past life. She was a total amnesiac! Her husband and children visited her daily, but she did not know them.
Determined to understand what had happened to her, she began reading medical textbooks and studying in the specialized area of amnesia and memory loss. She met and discussed with specialists in this field. Eventually she wrote a paper on her condition. Not long afterward, she was invited to address a medical conference to deliver her paper, answer questions about her amnesia, and share her experiences and ideas. During this period, something amazing happened. She became a genuinely positive, confident, outgoing woman, well informed, and very much in demand as a speaker and authority in the medical profession. All memory of her negative childhood had been wiped out. She changed her thinking and changed her life.
Each person comes into the world with no thoughts or ideas at all, and everything that a person thinks and feels is learned from babyhood onward. The adult becomes the sum total of everything he or she learns, feels, and experiences while growing up.
Everyone is born with no self-concept at all. Every idea, opinion, feeling, attitude, or value you have as an adult is the result of an idea or impression you took in and accepted as true. When you believe something to be true, it becomes true for you, whatever the fact may be. You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.What happened to the woman after the accident?
| A.She believed she was not talented. |
| B.She didn't love her husband any more. |
| C.She refused to recall her past life. |
| D.She was in complete memory loss. |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

Which statement agrees with the last paragraph?
| A.Great minds think alike. |
| B.Thinking is to man what water is to fish. |
| C.Confidence in you is the first step on the road to success. |
| D.You are not what you believe, but what others believe you are. |
¤ While the 2008 Olympics were the first to be broadcast entirely in HD, the 2012 Olympics are the first to broadcast in HD as well as 3D. Sean Taylor, a spokesperson for Panasonic – provider of some of the technologies – said it effectively, “Each Games, from a technology perspective, tries to have a first. London will be the first HD and 3D Games.” The games were first televised in Berlin in 1936 and played on big screens about the city. Then came the first games to enter households (strictly in London that is) in 1948, followed by the first internationally televised games during the 1960 Olympics in Rome. And ever since, that feeling of physically standing in the crowd and watching these mighty contestants has only gotten clearer, more defined. Now, they more literally than ever actually compete in your living room.
§ A paradox is presented as the London games celebrate both the Industrial Revolution (a.k.a. the birth of pollution) and a spirit of committed environmentalism; London will be the first to actively measure its own carbon footprint during these games, designing a stadium and accommodations that cut-back on negative emissions when at all possible. They are also shooting for a world record via the “Javelin,” designed specifically to keep as many exhaust pipes at bay as humanly possible.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. The Industrial Revolution first happened in England.
B. 2012 London Olympics is the first to broadcast in HD.
C. People couldn’t see the Olympic Games on TV 80 years ago.
D. 2012 London Olympics is more environmentally friendly than before. What does the underlined word “paradox” probably mean in the text?
| A.solid evidence | B.advanced thought |
| C.perfect opinion | D.contradictory view |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A.a novel | B.a report | C.a diary | D.an essay |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A.The History of Olympic Games. |
| B.Two Firsts about 2012 London Olympics |
| C.2012 London Olympics --- Eco-Conscious Games |
| D.2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics |
A four-year study of 200 college students found that those who drink heavily and started drinking at an early age demonstrate poor decision-making skills, just like long-term, chronic(长期的) alcoholics. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia believe early onset binge drinking negatively affects psychological development.
The researches examined college students between the ages of 18 and 22. After three years, they tested them using the Iowa Gambling Test, which measures the tendency to make immediate (disadvantageous) or long-term (advantageous) choices.
Based on the students’ reported drinking habits, they were grouped into four categories: low binge drinkers, moderate binge drinkers, increasing binge drinkers and stable or high binge drinkers.
“Students in the stable or high alcohol use category, who had longer histories of binge drinking, made riskier and less advantageous choices, which reflect problems associated with planning for the future,” the researchers reported.
The study also found that only students who started binge drinking when they were younger showed impairment on the task.
“There is reason to think that heavy binge drinking during adolescence, when the brain is still rapidly developing, may have some negative legacy (遗传) on psychological development,” said Kenneth J. Sher of MU’s Midwest Alcoholism Research Center in a news release. “The interesting thing is that if we were to just look at binge drinkers and how impaired they are in the decision-making process as juniors, we’d really be obscuring(使模糊) the important issue, which is how long they’ve been binge drinkers and / or how early they started.”What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A.Four categories of heavy drinkers. |
| B.Heavy drinking affects college students. |
| C.Early onset binge drinkers are poor at decision-making. |
| D.People drinking at an early age will develop into binge drinkers. |
Which category would make the most disadvantageous choice?
| A.Low binge drinkers | B.moderate binge drinkers |
| C.Increasing binge drinkers | D.Stable binge drinkers |
Early onset binge drinking negatively affects psychological development because _______.
| A.adolescent students were not suitable for drinking |
| B.drinking too much will slow the growth of the brain |
| C.the brain has not fully developed during adolescence |
| D.drinking will make the students make dangerous choices |
What Kenneth J. Sher says suggests that _______.
| A.he is quite clear about what the important issue is |
| B.if binger drinkers started late, there would be no bad effect |
| C.the important issue is how impaired the students are in decision-making |
| D.only early binge drinkers will have their decision-making ability affected |