When it comes to success in business and success in life, there are few qualities as important as confidence．
People naturally have different levels of confidence．Some have a higher level of confidence than others do, but even those whose confidence is lacking can learn to build their level of confidence and reach their most important goals．Increasing self confidence is one of the most common reasons people give for seeking the help of psychologists and other professionals．
One of the many places where a greater level of confidence is useful is in the workplace．We all know how difficult it can be, for instance, to ask the boss for a raise．This process can be extremely difficult for those who lack confidence in their own abilities．After all, if you are unsure about your own abilities, how will you ever convince your boss that you deserve more money for the work you do?
Even if you are not asking for that big raise, having plenty of confidence in your abilities is important to success．If you are certain of your abilities, chances are that those around you, whether they are your coworkers, your colleagues or your superiors, will see that confidence, and that will help to assure them that you are the best at what you do．
Being thought of as the person to go to, and being seen as an expert in your chosen field, is naturally very important to success on the job．If you can make yourself the person people go to for guidance and advice, you will help to protect yourself from the ever present danger of downsizing（裁员）．After all, if you are a recognized expert at the office, you will be regarded as an indispensable member of the team．
Having a high level of confidence, after all, does not mean overlooking the places where you could improve．Knowing what you do well and where you need help will help you enjoy increased success and confidence．What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The influence of confidence on one's life． |
| B．The difference of people's confidence．． |
| C．The importance of confidence to success |
| D．The judgment on one's confidence． |
Psychologists and other professionals can offer help to those ______．
| A．who dream to be recognized experts |
| B．who expect to give guidance to others |
| C．who want to ask the boss for a raise |
| D．who think their goals are hard to reach |
What message does the author want to convey（传递） in the last paragraph?
| A．To overlook one's disadvantages． |
| B．To make full use of one's advantages． |
| C．To have great confidence in one's abilities． |
| D．To make objective evaluations of one's abilities． |
I clearly remember the day when my little brother was born: January 1, 1994. One of my favorite family photos shows me lying with my mother in the hospital bed, happy but un-aware of the small, sleeping baby in the background.
I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend of my brother’s birth, excited about my new brother but not yet aware of what having a little brother would mean. I didn’t truly realize what was going on until we were in the hospital room at Duke University----
coincidentally (碰巧地), the same room in which I had been born two years earlier.
When I looked at my brother for the first time, I felt a mixture of fear and interest. Little did know that small, pink creature would grow up to be one of my favorite people in the world.
In reality, though I am two years older than my brother, I am more often than not the real baby in the family. I am very lacking when it comes to common sense. Instructions constantly confuse me and I frequently find myself totally puzzled by things like knowing how to start the washing machine or manage the storage settings on my iPhone.
That’s where Gibson comes in. The poor kid has had to guide me through more tasks than I would care to admit, but he never complains. Though I should probably be told to figure it out myself, he always comes through.
I’m envious of his ability to readily answer the ever-present, “What do you want to do with your life?” question at family gatherings. “Be a doctor,” he says----a solid answer, completely opposite to my shaky one, “Well, I’m an English major, so...”
My brother truly is my best friend. No one understands me better, and there isn’t anyone else I would want to be stuck with in our family. I may not have a clear idea of where I’m headed, but he is stuck with me.How did the author feel when he saw his brother for the first time?
| A．Angry and sad. |
| B．Excited and moved. |
| C．Curious and scared. |
| D．Happy and interested. |
What does the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．My brother is the real baby in the family. |
| B．In fact, I seem to be less mature than my little brother. |
| C．My brother gets more love from the family than I do. |
| D．I am growing more slowly than my brother. |
What does the brother often help the author do?
| A．Help him deal with many daily tasks. |
| B．Help him with his studies. |
| C．Give him advice on how to choose a major. |
| D．Comfort him when he is in a bad mood. |
What is the best title for this text?
| A．My Strange Family Gatherings |
| B．The Real Baby in the Family |
| C．Stuck with Me----My Not-So-Little Little Brother |
| D．The Feeling of Having a Brother |
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 piece 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(非语言的) indications with symbolic messages. People tend to pay attention to the shoes they and others wear.”
Medical Daily notes that the details detected in the study include a person’s general age, sex, income, political affiliation(派别), and other personality characteristics, 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, some of the results were expected: People with higher incomes most commonly wore expensive shoes, and flashier footwear was typically worn by extroverts(外向者).
However, some of the more specific results are interesting. For example, “practical and functional” shoes were generally worn by more “agreeable” people, while ankle boots went more closely with “aggressive” personalities.
The strangers 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 a large 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 characteristics, but researchers noted that volunteers were also likely to be unaware that their footwear choices were showing deep awareness into their personalities.According to Omri Gillath, a stranger’s personality can be judged by ___.
| A．he age and sex of the person |
| B．the personality questionnaire by the person |
| C．the emotional stability of the person |
| D．the shoes the person wears |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that ___.
| A．a practical purpose is to wear shoes |
| B．people want to buy new shoes they pay attention to |
| C．shoes are vital to their wearers |
| D．the Journal of Research in Personality is a magazine |
The underlined word “agreeable” is closest in meaning to __.
| A．gentle | B．weak | C．generous | D．considerate |
Which might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Good Shoes, Good Character |
| B．Bad Shoes, Bad Personality |
| C．Shoes and Their Wearers’ Personality |
| D．Shoes Shape A Person’s Character |
We know that the earth has become warmer over the last century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program, reports that the average surface temperature of the earth has increased during the twentieth century by 0.6°+ 0.2°C.(The + 0.2°C means that the increase might be as small as 0.4°C or as great as 0.8°C). This may seem like a small shift, but although regional and short—term temperatures do fluctuate(变动) over a wide range, global temperatures are generally quite stable. In fact, the difference between today’s average global temperature and the average global temperature during the last Ice Age is only about 5 degrees C. Indeed, it’s warmer today around the world than at any time during the past 1,000years, and the warmest years of the previous century have occurred within the past decade.
We also know that human activities—primarily the burning of fossil fuels—have increased the greenhouse gas content of the earth’s atmosphere significantly over the same period. Carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gases, which trap heat near the planet’s surface.
The vast majority of climate researchers agree with these overall findings. The scientific disagreements that do still exist primarily concern detailed aspects of the processes that make up these largely accepted general themes.
You can think of this website as a window into the world of scientific research. In this primer, you’ll find a general discussion of the physical processes underlying the earth’s climate, an outline of the kinds of data that may shed light on how the climate is changing—and the role of human activity in these changes—and a description a some of the questions and uncertainties that researchers continue to explore. This primer is organized into four interconnected sections: the Atmosphere; the Hydrosphere(水圈); the Cryosphere(低温层); and the Biosphere(生物层).We know from the text that “IPCC”___.
| A．engages in the climate and changes about the earth. |
| B．is a group by scientists who like to walk around the moon |
| C．works in the World Meteorological Organization |
| D．often greets the passers-by from the outer space |
We know from the text that carbon dioxide ___.
| A．is one of the most important greenhouse gases |
| B．has fossil fuels |
| C．traps cold near the planet’s surface |
| D．exist in human activities |
From the text, we know when we say the temperature of something has increased by about 0.7+ 0.2°C, the + 0.2°C means___.
| A．the increase might by as small as 0.3°C or as great as 0.7°C |
| B．the increase might by as small as 0.5°C or as great as 0.8°C |
| C．the increase might by as small as 0.5°C or as great as 0.9°C |
| D．the increase might by as small as 0.4 C or as great as 0.8°C |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．What Are the Scientific Disagreements |
| B．You Can Think of This Website |
| C．What Do We Know about Global Climate Change? |
| D．The Vast Majority of Climate Researchers |
Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America’s spirit as a bright-eyed child movie star during the Great Depression, peacefully passed away at her California home on Monday evening at 85, surrounded by her family and caregivers.
Temple, born on April 23, 1928, started her entertainment career in the early 1930s and was famous by age 6. Temple was 3 when her mother put her in dance school, where a talent scout spotted her and got her in Baby Burlesks, a series of short movies with child actors playing in adult movies.
Movie studio directors took notice of her and in 1934 she appeared in the film Stand Up and Cheer! and her song and dance caught people’s attention. Movies such as Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes featured her signature song. In 1935, she received a special Oscar for her “outstanding contribution to screen entertainment” in the movie Stand Up and Cheer!
She made some 40 feature movies, including The Little Colonel, Poor Little Rich Girl, Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, in 10 years, starring with big-name actors like Randolph Scott, Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Durante. Temple was a superstar before the term was invented. She said she was about 8 when crowds shouting their love for her made her realize she was famous. “I wondered why,” she recalled. “I asked my mother and she said, ‘Because your films make them happy.’ ”
Her child career came to an end at 12. She tried a few roles as a teenager—including opposite future president Ronald Reagan in That Hagen Girl – but retired from the screen in 1949 at 21.
Temple was only 17 when she married for the first time to John Agar, who would eventually appear with her in two movies. Their five-year marriage produced a daughter. In 1950 she wed Charles Black in a marriage that lasted until his death in 2005. She and Black had two children. Temple’s interest in politics was sparked in the early 1950s when her husband was called back into the Navy to work in Washington.For which movie did Shirley Temple win the Oscar?
| A．That Hagen Girl |
| B．Little Miss Marker |
| C．Stand Up and Cheer |
| D．The Little Colonel |
When Temple first caught the audience’s eyes, ____.
| A．she hoped to play a role in a series of movies |
| B．her family was offered |
| C．her mother sent her to a local dance school |
| D．the United States was in fact in financial straits |
After Temple got married to Charles Black, ____.
| A．she might have begun her political life |
| B．she had to raise her two young children |
| C．she decided to work for the Navy |
| D．she ended her film career on screen |
It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that ___.
| A．people could find happiness in Temple’s films |
| B．Temple’s mother only focused on income |
| C．Temple disliked crowds shouting at her |
| D．Temple’s mother was worried about her |
A beer bottle thrown from the stands landed near Usain Bolt in the moments before the 100-meter final Sunday night in London.
As Bolt and seven other competitors ducked into their starting crouches, a bottle sailed from the first row of the stands at Olympic Stadium.
It harmlessly bounced in the lane belonging to Yohan Blake and didn’t appear to cause a distraction(分心) to the runners, who started a moment later. The thrower’s lack of distance was a blessing. Had he gathered tips from the competitors of the hammer throw(链球) competition, which was taking place in the infield at the same time as the 100 final, the bottle could have hit one of the competitors. It ended up landing a few feet from Blake (lane5).
Edith Bosch, a female Dutch judoka who won a bronze medal earlier during the Olympics, claimed that the man who threw the bottle was sitting near her and that she “beat” him. Whether that’s true or the hyperbole (夸张的语句) of an aggravated athlete was unclear in the minutes after the incident. Pictures show a group of Dutch athletes sitting behind the starting area.
Police took the man into custody(监护). He will appear in court on Monday morning.
Neither Bolt nor Blake said they knew of the incident until they were informed by reporters. “I don’t know who would have done that,” Bolt said.
Gatlin was aware of it but implied it was only a slight distraction. “I didn’t know what it was,” he said, according to the BBC, “but when you’re in those blocks, the whole stadium is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.”How many exact athletes are mentioned in the text?
| A．Two | B．Four | C．Seven | D．Eleven |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Usain Bolt along with seven other competitors |
| B．A female Dutch judoka sitting behind the starting area. |
| C．The lane belonging to Yohan Blake before 100 final. |
| D．A beer bottle thrown at Usain Bolt before 100 final. |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the athletes for the 100-meter final?
| A．Critical | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving | D．Positive |