It was Molly’s job to hand her father his brown paper lunch bag each morning before he headed off to work.
One morning, in addition to his usual lunch bag, Molly handed him a second paper bag. This one was worn and held together with staples (订书钉) 。
“Why two bags?” her father asked. “The other is something else,” Molly answered. “What’s in it?” “Just some stuff. Take it with you.”
Not wanting to discuss the matter, he put both bags into his briefcase, kissed Molly and rushed off. At midday he opened Molly’s bag and took out the contents: two hair ribbons(丝带), three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a tiny sea shell, a small doll, and 13 pennies… The busy father smiled, finished eating, and swept the desk clean into the wastebasket, Molly’s stuff included.
That evening, Molly ran up behind him as he read the paper. “Where’s my bag?” “What bag?” “The one I gave you this morning.” “I left it at the office. Why?” “I forgot to put this note in it,” she said. “And, besides, Daddy, the things in the sack are the things I really like — I thought you might like to play with them. You didn’t lose the bag, did you, Daddy?” “Oh, no,” he said, lying. “I just forgot to bring it home. I’ll bring it tomorrow.” While Molly hugged her father’s neck, he unfolded the note that read: “I love you, Daddy.” Molly had given him her treasures — all that a 7-year-old held dear.
Love in a paper bag, and he missed it — not only missed it, but had thrown it in the wastebasket. So back he went to the office. Just ahead of the night janitor(看门人), he picked up the wastebasket. He put the treasures inside and carried it home carefully. The bag didn’t look so good, but the stuff was all there and that’s what counted.
After dinner, he asked Molly to tell him about the stuff in the sack. It took a long time to tell. Everything had a story or a memory.
“Sometimes I think of all the great times in this sweet life,” he thought.
We should all remember that it’s not the destination that counts in life, but the journey. That journey with the people we love is all that really matters. It is such a simple truth but it is so easily forgotten.Why did Molly give her father a second bag?
| A．She didn’t want to keep the things in the bag. |
| B．She hoped those things would bring happiness to her father. |
| C．She wanted to remind her father of the stories behind the things. |
| D．She enjoyed playing with her father. |
How did father deal with the bag after he opened it?
| A．He kept it in the drawer. |
| B．He took it back home. |
| C．He threw it into the wastebasket. |
| D．He put it on his table. |
After father heard what his daughter said, he felt_____.
| A．regretful | B．surprised | C．sad | D．satisfied |
Which of the following is the most suitable title of the passage?
| A．An important journey | B．Two bags |
| C．Father and daughter | D．Love in a paper bag |
Boredom and Creativity
Most of us think of being bored at work as a negative experience, but a new study suggests it can have positive results including an increase in creativity because it gives us time to daydream.
That is the finding of Dr. Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire. Dr. Mann conducted two studies. In the first experiment, 40 people were asked to carry out a boring task. They were told to copy numbers out of a telephone directory for 15 minutes. After that they were asked to complete another task. A pair of cups were given to each of them. Everyone tried to come up with different uses of the cups, and was given a chance to display their creativity. Meanwhile, another group of 40 people were just asked to come up with uses for the cups without doing any boring tasks before. It turned out that the 40 people who had first copied out the telephone numbers were more creative than the control group(对照组).
To see if daydreaming was a factor in this effect, a second boring task was introduced that allowed even more daydreaming than the boring writing task. This second study saw 30 people copying out the numbers as before, but also included a second group of 30 reading rather than writing them.
Again the researchers found that the people in the control group were least creative, but the people who had just read the names were more creative than those who had to write them out. This suggests that more passive boring activities, like reading or perhaps attending meetings, can lead to more creativity. Compared with reading, writing reduced the scope(范围) for daydreaming. As a result, it reduces the effects of boredom on creativity.
Dr. Mann says: “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be avoided, but perhaps we should accept it in order to promote our creativity. What we want to do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are. Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work--or do they go home and write novels?”Who proved to be the most creative in the two studies?
| A．The people who attended meetings. |
| B．The people who invented uses for cups. |
| C．The people who did the reading task |
| D．The people who copied telephone numbers. |
The studies conducted by Dr. Mann indicate that creativity results from _______.
| A．creative tasks |
| B．the range of daydreaming |
| C．controlled activities |
| D．reading and writing ability |
What is Dr. Mann’s attitude towards boredom at work?
| A．Subjective | B．Skeptical |
| C．Positive | D．Disapproving |
What will Dr. Mann probably continue to research in their study?
| A．The actual use of boredom. |
| B．The real causes of creativity. |
| C．The practical reasons of boredom. |
| D．The writing ability improved by boredom. |
Forty years ago, Finland was a small country with ordinary public schools. Today, Finland is still small but no one calls Finland’s public schools ordinary anymore.
In 2000, the Finns surprised the world when their 15yearolds scored at the top of a closelywatched international exam called the PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment. Finland has stayed near the top ever since, while the US scores around the middle.
Pasi Sahlberg, an official of Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, is in Seattle this week to share the story of Finland’s success, and what states like Washington can learn from it.
Sahlberg’s message, although he is too polite to put it so directly: Stop testing so much. Trust teachers more. Give less homework. Shorten the school day.
On Tuesday, in a room filled with teachers, principals, professors, schoolboard members and policy makers, Sahlberg joked about the Finns’ reputation for being a quiet, humble people. When Finland hit the top of the PISA, he said, the biggest disbelievers were Finns.
More seriously, he said, Finland never set out to create the world’s top school system. Instead, he said, the country decided in the 1970s that it wanted to ensure that a student’s success didn’t depend on family background.
To achieve that goal, Finland relied on cooperation among teachers and schools, rather than on competition.
Rather than judges teachers and schools based on test scores, he said, Finland puts trust in its teachers and principals. Teachers develop the curriculum(课程) in Finland, and design their own tests. There are no national tests, except one at the end of high school.
That’s just the start. Along with a shorter school day, Finnish students don’t even start school until they are 7 years old. Many primary schools have a policy against giving homework.
But Finland, he said, succeeded in part by adapting ideas from the US and other countries. And those countries, he said, can learn from Finland, too.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To introduce a Finnish official. |
| B．To share the story of Finland’s success in education. |
| C．To compare the education systems of Finland and the US. |
| D．To ask the US to improve its education. |
People first learned Finland’s success in education from ________.
| A．its ordinary public schools |
| B．its international exchange students |
| C．lectures given by Pasi Sahlberg |
| D．its students’ performance in an International exam |
Which of the following contributes to Finland’s success in education?
a. Giving students fewer tests
b. Giving teachers more trust.
c. Evaluating students’ family background.
d. Creating the world’s top school system.
e. Starting school late.
| A．a, b, e | B．c, d, e |
| C．a, b, c | D．b, c, d |
What Pasi Sahlberg says in the passage suggests that ________.
| A．children should start school as early as possible |
| B．the US education system is still the most advanced |
| C．competition among teachers is harmful to education |
| D．it’s necessary to set up a national curriculum |
Chocolate soap is supposed to be good for the skin. But it’s not so good for the tongue. Unfortunately for the US soldiers of World War II, the chocolate bars the army gave them tasted like they were intended for use in the bath.
In the army’s defense, it wasn’t trying to win any cooking awards. In fact, it specifically ordered that its chocolate bars not be too delicious, so soldiers wouldn’t eat them too quickly. These bars were created for survival, not taste. “They were awful,” John Otto, a former army captain in World War II said, “They were big, thick things, and they weren’t any good. I tried them, but I had to be awfully hungry after I tried them once.”
As unappealing as the chocolate bars were to some, others like them. Samuel Hinkle, the chemist who created the chocolate bars, pointed out that the number of bars made were far greater than the army needed. “It soon became obvious that the generous American soldiers were sharing their valued possessions with their foreign friends, whether soldiers of other countries or local citizens.”
The bars turned many hungry Europeans into friends of the United States. “People wanted them,” said Otto. “You’d give them to kids. In some places they were very hungry. And they surely helped relax people about American soldiers.”
Otto said he never saw a European turn his or her nose up at the chocolate. “It was food,” he said. “At that time, everyone was very hungry. I saw German kids standing outside the US army kitchen. They weren’t begging, just standing there very politely. When we were done, the kids would eat the food out of the garbage. They were so hungry.”
Other Europeans did not see chocolate until well after the war ended. “We didn’t see any Americans where I was,” said Elizabeth Radsma, who was 25 years old when the Germans occupied her country, the Netherlands. “Even after the war, we saw only the British. Maybe the Americans gave out some chocolates in the big cities, but we were only in a small town. Before the British, we saw only German soldiers. But chocolate? Don’t make me laugh! Maybe in my dreams!”
A soldier in the field might have responded “Be careful what you wish for”--and then gratefully bit on a chocolate bar, the only food available for miles.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The US soldiers used the chocolate bars as bath soap. |
| B．The US army produced more chocolate bars than necessary for its soldiers. |
| C．The US soldiers did not have enough food during World War II. |
| D．European people regretted eating chocolate bars from the US soldiers. |
The underlined expression “turn his or her nose up at” probably means “________”.
| A．receive | B．demand |
| C．refuse | D．smell |
Why does the author mention the German kids’ story?
| A．To tell how friendly the American soldiers were. |
| B．To show how much they were eager for chocolate. |
| C．To prove German kids could be very polite. |
| D．To describe the hunger in Germany during the war. |
Elizabeth Radsma never saw chocolate during the war because ________.
| A．the US soldiers never showed up in the small town she lived in |
| B．the German soldiers kept them all for themselves |
| C．the British soldiers didn’t share it with the local people |
| D．the US soldiers handed out all chocolates to people in big cities |
How to look good in a photo?
What should you do if you want to have a nice photo taken? Whether it's work or fun, the most important thing is lighting. If you get bad lighting, you will look bad, too. Know where the light is. You don't want it below you or above you, you want it to shine directly at you.
The key thing is no shadow. If you are being photographed outside, do it in the morning, or wait till the 2 o'clock shadow has passed. Also don't let pictures in the magazines stress you out--all the pictures are taken by great photographers. And all the faces have had pimples(丘疹, 粉刺) taken out by computers.
Tip your head and learn what angles work with your face; everyone is different. So you have to learn what suits you. You can practice in Photo Booth for as long as it is your turn, to learn what angles suit your face. Tip your neck to make it look longer, make eye contact with the camera. No one can look bad if they smile.
For long legs, point one leg into center of the frame and get the photographer to shoot looking up your body.
For just leg shots, lie upside down and raise legs in the air for the best angle. And your legs will look thinner and be in better shape.
Keep shoulders back.
Always have mouth slightly open, enough to put a penny between your lips, as this will make your lips look fuller.
Lower your eyes and then look up just as shutter(快门) is clicked for full eyes.
Delete any evidence of a less than perfect photogenic moment, everyone has off days.If you want to look good in a photo, the light should be ______.
| A．below you | B．directly at you |
| C．above you | D．right behind you |
According to the passage, we should consider all EXCEPT ______.
| A．light | B．shadow |
| C．photographers | D．angles |
What advice does the author give on taking photos?
| A．Raise legs on the wall. | B．Look down. |
| C．Put a penny between lips. | D．Keep shoulders back. |
The following card includes a brief summary and a short assessment of a research paper. It can provide a guide for further reading on the topic.
Trevor, C. O., Lansford, B. and Black, J. W., 2004, "Employee turnover (人事变更) and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion", Journal of Armchair Psychology, vol. 113, no.1, pp. 56-64.
In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect of job performance, turnover rates and employees' job attitude. The authors use data gained through organizational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main cause of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for performance and organizational reward plans. The article is useful as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for employee turnover and a variety of differences in employees' job attitude and performance. The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors indicate that further, more extensive research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee turnover and job performance. As this article was published in a professional journal, the findings can be considered reliable. It will be useful additional information for the research on pay structures.The research paper published is primarily concerned with_____
| A．the way of preventing employee turnover |
| B．methods of improving employee performance |
| C．factors affecting employee turnover and performance |
| D．pay structures based on employee performance |
As is mentioned in the card, the limitation of the research paper mainly lies in that ____ .
| A．the data analysis is hardly reliable |
| B．the research sample is not wide enough |
| C．the findings are of no practical value |
| D．the research method is out-of-date |
Who might be most interested in this piece of information?
| A．Job hunters. |
| B．Employees in blue-chip companies. |
| C．Mid-level managers. |
| D．Researchers on employee turnover. |