Nothing succeeds like confidence. When you are truly confident, it radiates (辐射) from you like sunlight, and attracts success to you like a magnet (磁铁). Besides, those who are self-confident can in turn inspire (encourage) confidence in others: their audience, their peers, their bosses, their customers, and their friends. And gaining the confidence of others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success.
So how can we build a sense of self-confidence and prepare ourselves on the way to success?
First, do what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticize you for it. Believe in yourself and believe that you can do it in any situations, because if you believe you can, then you really will. The belief keeps you searching for answers, which means that pretty soon you will get them.
Second, govern your behavior based on what other people think. What’s more important, be willing to take risks and go the extra miles to achieve better results, in which case mistakes can not be avoided. Always be ready to admit your mistakes, and learn from them. Next, work hard to settle the problems in order to cover up your mistakes before anyone notices. Building self-confidence is readily achievable, as long as you have the focus and determination to carry things through. And what’s even better is that the things you’ll do to build self-confidence will also build success -- after all, your confidence will come from real, solid achievement. No one can take this away from you!
As you sow, so will you reap. With your perseverance (毅力) and improvement, you are getting closer to success. At this stage, wait for others to give congratulations and compliments on your achievements. “Thanks, I really worked hard on it. I’m pleased you recognize my efforts.” The congratulations and compliments from others will promote you to gain further success.
Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, and it is no wonder that so many people struggle to find it. Self-confidence really can be learned and built on. Besides, whether you’re working on your own self-confidence or building the confidence of people around you, it’s well worth the effort! Those who are truly confident _______.
| A．succeed without effort and hard work |
| B．encourage people around to become confident |
| C．appear more attractive and thus become successful |
| D．gain the confidence of others and feel successful |
The underlined word “mock” (Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to _______.
| A．praise | B．imitate (模仿) | C．punish | D．laugh at |
When others congratulate us on our achievements, we are supposed to _______.
| A．praise them in return |
| B．gain further improvement |
| C．politely accept the compliments |
| D．expect them to congratulate you again |
Which of the following proverbs (sayings) best goes with Paragraph 4?
| A．Look before your leap. |
| B．It is no use crying over spilt milk. |
| C．Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. |
| D．Learn from past mistakes and avoid future ones. |
The purpose of the text is to _______.
| A．tell people how to become successful |
| B．convince people to do what they believe to be right |
| C．encourage people to build confidence and achieve success |
| D．criticize people who lack confidence and thus fail in their career |
As the semester(学期) ended, students had a chance to turn the tables on their teachers.
They got to grade me anonymously(匿名地), assessing the ability of my thinking, my organizational skills and the depth of my knowledge. Such evaluations keep me alert to what works and what doesn’t. Students reflect my performance back to me, and I’m glad to learn what they think of my teaching so that I might try to improve.
This system reflects many aspects of my work. There is, of course, nothing wrong with it. But this system assumes that what students need is the same as what they want. Reading my evaluations every semester has taught me otherwise. Actually many students’ expectations for their courses have already changed, reflecting, in part, the business model many universities are following: classes are considered services, and parents are eager to get their money’s worth from their children’s education. Students feel pressure from their parents to get practical use from their courses.
This could make sense for an engineering course, but in my field, creative writing, which rarely trains up excellent 21-year-old writers, it is more difficult to provide the results that the career-minded students desire. Then I tried some teaching techniques to change the criticism of those unhappy students to the opposite and improve my student evaluations. My record would accurately reflect a smart, attentive, encouraging teacher. However, I would admit that they loved me simply because I agreed writing should be easy.
I know other teachers have done the same thing: teach your heart out to the teachable but be sure to please the unteachable; keep your ratings high, like a politician trying to improve his poll(民意调查) results. I believe in the struggle. But I still can’t help wincing(退缩) when I read, “The instructor is mean.” “Marcus is not committed to my work.” “This class sucks.” The business model has taught me that customers are always right. And maybe a few more dissatisfied customers would mean a better learning experience.What can we know from the underlined phrase “turn the tables on their teachers”？
| A．Students get a chance to have dinner with their teachers. |
| B．Students judge and grade their teachers. |
| C．Students begin to criticize and punish their teachers. |
| D．Students take action to praise their teachers. |
Why have the students’ expectations for their courses changed?
| A．Because students want to improve other abilities. |
| B．Because students feel great pressure from universities. |
| C．Because students have to satisfy their parents. |
| D．Because the business model has changed. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Parents don’t care about their money spent on their children’s education. |
| B．The writer adopted some teaching methods so that he improved his student evaluations. |
| C．Similar to other teachers, the writer struggled to work as politicians. |
| D．The students intended to punish their teachers by giving comments. |
What is the author’s attitude towards being graded by his students?
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Satisfied. | D．Scared. |
He was a hero that saved two children from the jaws of a cougar(美洲狮). Standing barely 1.7 meters, the 22-year-old with black-frame glasses might pass more for a Chinese Harry Potter. Yet Shen Huigang is now getting recognition for his bravery in fighting off a cougar on Vancouver Island, Canada, during a family outing. Shen, also known as Ian, was then an exchange student. With him was a friend, Myles Hagar, and Hagar’s two grandchildren. Silently and suddenly a cougar appeared out of nowhere. By the time they spotted the cat, it already had the head of 18-month-old Julien in its mouth.
“At first, my brain was nothing but blank,” Shen recalled. “But I believed I could get the child back.” He gestured as if he were ready for a fight, and tried to scare the beast off with his bag. Hearing the noise Shen made, the animal dropped the baby and Hagar rushed to grab his grandson. But the animal didn’t run, instead turned toward 3-year-old Iris standing beside Shen. “Had Ian not been there, shouting at the cougar, remaining calm and standing firm, it would certainly have attacked Iris.” Hagar recalled.
They chased the animal back into the woods. “We moved slowly to our vehicle as we waved our fists and bags, pretending to wrestle it,” Shen said. “The vehicle wasn’t far away but it felt like it took us a century to travel the short journey.” As Hagar drove for help, Shen held the heavily-bleeding boy in the passenger seat and calmly kept him awake by hugging and kissing him in case he would go into a coma(昏迷). The boy was flown to a hospital nearby. Doctors later said his little skull had been punctured(刺穿) through to his brain in two places. Luckily, Julien made a full recovery.
“Any hesitation, even a second delay, would have resulted in certain death for Julien, but Ian was there…” Hagar said. Following the incident, the story appeared on Canadian TV networks in every city, and in many small town newspapers---plus many US Internet news sites. The Royal Canadian Humane Association planned to give Shen a Canada Bravery Award, but it couldn’t reach him because he had returned to China.Why did the cougar drop the baby?
| A．Because it was scared by the noise made by Ian’s shouting. |
| B．Because Hagar rushed to grab the baby from its jaws. |
| C．Because it wanted to attack Iris and took her away. |
| D．Because Hagar and Ian were chasing it back into the woods. |
Which of the following statements about Shen Huigang is TRUE?
| A．He was called Chinese Harry Potter because he was very brave. |
| B．His deed was spread both in Canada and the US. |
| C．He was better at fighting and wrestling compared with Hagar. |
| D．He was too shocked to move to the vehicle in the incident. |
What did Ian do in the car to keep the baby awake?
| A．He held, hugged and kissed the baby in the passenger seat. |
| B．He drove the car as quickly as possible to find a hospital. |
| C．He encouraged the baby telling him to be awake. |
| D．He held the heavily- bleeding wound of the baby. |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．Saving Lives From the Jaws of Death |
| B．Experiencing a Family Outing |
| C．Taking Care of Two Children |
| D．Interviewing a Clever Young Student |
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood go through a machine. The machine cooled the blood. Then the machine sent the blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10°C, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that _______.
| A．the time is too short for doctors |
| B．the patients are often too nervous |
| C．the damage is extremely hard to fix |
| D．the blood-cooling machine might break down |
The brain operation was made possible mainly by _______.
| A．taking the blood out of the brain |
| B．trying the operation on monkeys first |
| C．having the blood go through a machine |
| D．lowering the brain’s temperature |
With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain _______.
| A．can last as long as 30 minutes |
| B．can keep the brain’s blood warm |
| C．can keep the patient’s brain healthy |
| D．can help monkeys do different jobs |
What is the right order of the steps in the operation?
a. send the cooled blood back to the brain
b. stop the blood to the brain
c. have the blood cooled down
d. operate on the brain
| A．a, b, c, d | B．c, a, b, d | C．c, b, d, a | D．b, c, d, a |
London: It’s well known that Charles Darwin’s famous theory of evolution annoyed many people because it was against the Biblical view of creation. But few know that it also created problems for Darwin at home with his deeply religious wife, Emma.
“Darwin held back the publication of On the Origin of Species to avoid offending (触怒) his wife,” says Ruth Padel, the naturalist’s great – great – granddaughter. “Emma told him that he seemed to be putting God further and further off”, Padel says in her north London home. “But they talked it through, and Emma once said, ‘Don’t change any of your ideas for fear of hurting me.’”
As the world celebrates the 200th birthday of the man who changed scientific thought forever and the 150th anniversary of his book today, even his opponents admitted he was a giant figure.
Though opposition to his theory continues, it is the elegant explanation of how species evolutes through natural selection that makes his 200th birthday such a major event.
More than 300 celebrations have been planned in Britain alone, where Darwin's face graces (使增光)the 10-pound bill along with that of Queen Elizabeth II.
Shrewsbury, the central England town where Darwin was born and raised, is holding a month-long festival for its most famous son. Down House, his former home near London, will hold a permanent exhibition recreating some of his most famous experiments.
Many more events have been planned all over the world.
What would he be doing if he were alive today? Padel thinks he would properly be studying DNA and the immune system.The main purpose of the author is .
| A．to say something about Darwin and his wife |
| B．to introduce Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution |
| C．to sing high praise for the book On the Origin of Species |
| D．to report some celebrations of Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of his books |
Which of the statements is NOT true based on the passage?
| A．Everyone agrees with Darwin now. |
| B．Darwin was brought up in Shrewsbury. |
| C．Emma was not really fond of his theory. |
| D．Darwin was very interested in living things. |
The underlined phrase “held back” in the second paragraph probably means .
| A．prevented from | B．kept a secret | C．cared about | D．put off |
It can be inferred that the passage is most probably .
| A．a scientific report | B．a news report |
| C．an English composition | D．a text |
Enter a typical high school, and the first thing you see is the front office， where the principal dwells and grades are stored. The front office also reinforces familiar hierarchy(等级制度): principal at the top, teachers in the middle, kids on the bottom, sitting with hands folded at their desks.
Now, imagine a school where the organizational structure is completely flat. At the New Country School in Henderson, Minn, there is no front office. Visitors are immediately embraced by an airy atrium that is the centerpiece of this one-room schoolhouse. And all around the room, 124 students sit at desks — real office desks — working at their own personal computers on their own projects.
When Dee Thomas and her colleagues got together 15 years ago to design a new high school, they knew there was one thing that had to go: The bell. "You don't go into your job in the morning and say, 'OK, for the first 45 minutes of my job, I'm going to do the math part.' And then a bell goes off, and you do the social history part of your job. You don't do that," Thomas said.
There are no teachers at New Country. Every few weeks, students must present projects they've been working on to the rest of the school community. To prepare for their presentations, they gather at tables in the middle of the school atrium and present their work to their "advisers."
Kids at New Country test better than their peers on the state tests and on the pre-college ACT. The school sends 90 percent of its graduates to college. But that doesn't tell the whole story. New Country struggles to keep its seniors from leaving. The school's senior project is demanding — 300 hours of work.
But for some students, New Country offers a rare alternative, a choice they can't find anywhere else. And the school is constantly visited by educators from around the world looking for new ideas. That's the foundation of efforts to reform American high schools today — that there's a need to experiment with an institution that is failing millions of studentsThe author mentioned the typical high school in the first paragraph ___________.
A. to tell us what the typical high school is like in USA.
B. to present a sharp contrast with the experimental school, New Country.
C. to introduce the topic, New Country, of the passage.
D. to call on students to register in the typical high schoolThe following statements about New Country are all true except________.
| A．New Country students sit in an open environment that looks a lot like a typical office. |
| B．Students consult with "advisers", who "teach" in the traditional sense. |
| C．No bells in New Country, students choose how to spend their time. |
| D．No traditional classes, students work on projects they select themselves. |
Compared with typical high school, New Country is well received for its_________.
| A．high test scores | B．alternative |
| C．comfortable conditions | D．teaching methods |
The passage mainly tells us __________.
| A．experimental school gets rid of classes and teachers. |
| B．typical high school and experimental School. |
| C．new schools in future in America. |
| D．education reform in America. |