TheiPhone,theiPad:eachofApple’-优题课

People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed．It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive．
Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions．They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors．There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed．As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from one another, and there is a great deal of debate between proponents of each theory．The controversy is often referred to as “nature and nurture”．
Those who support the “nature” side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological and genetic factors．That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics, and behavior is central to this theory．Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is predetermined to such a degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts（本能）．
Proponents of the “nurture” theory, or, as they are often called, behaviorists, claimed that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act．A behaviorist, B．F．Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings．The behaviorists’ view of the human being is quite mechanistic; they maintain that, like machines, humans’ respond to environmental stimuli（刺激） as the basis of their behavior．
Socially and politically, the consequences of these two theories are far-reaching．In the US, for example, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests．This leads some “anature” proponents to conclude that blacks are genetically lower in status than whites．Behaviorists, on the contrary, say that the differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often robbed of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy, and that, as a result, they do not develop the same responses that whites do．
Either of these theories cannot yet fully explain human behavior．In fact, it is quite likely that the key to our behavior lies somewhere between these two extremes．That the controversy will continue for a long time is certain．
This passage is mainly concerned with．

A．relation between personality and behavior

B．relation between behavior and environment

C．different accounts of patterns of human behavior

D．different theories of the formation of human behavior

The underlined word " proponents'' in paragraph 2 means．

A．creators

B．advisors

C．advocates

D．judges

In paragraph 5 , the author mainly writes about．

A．the considerable influence of the two theories

B．differences between the blacks and whites

C．racial discrimination in the United States

D．different responds to intelligence tests

What's the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To call our attention to the changes of human behavior．

B．To urge scientists to do more research in social science．

C．To give us a detailed explanation of human behavior．

D．To present an argument in the field of social science．

A new power plant in Nakoso, Japan, might someday change everything for coal plants．Since the new power plant fired up in September, the designer, Mistubishi, is expecting to prove it's possible to burn coal without polluting．This technology is known as integrated gasification combined cycle （IGCC）．Proving IGCC works should give Mitsubishi's US partner, NRG Energy, the jump other hurdles to building new clean plants．
The project promised to solve the problem of the ages for power plants: how to produce cheap, clean, reliable electricity．No existing technology can do all three perfectly．
The problem is IGCC isn't there yet．It costs about 20 percent more than traditional plants．And even though it's easier to collect the resulting carbon dioxide from an IGCC plant than a traditional plant, there's no proven way to get rid of the greenhouse gas．One plan is to drill a shaft（通道） to pump the carbon dioxide underground, into saltwater formations．But there's no guarantee it will remain underground forever．
NRG administrators think solving the IGCC riddles is worth the trouble because they expect the U．S．will soon limit the amount of carbon dioxide that power generators may give out ．
"With the additional cost of IGCC, to just voluntarily build something that's 20 percent more expensive, that’s commercial suicide," NRG chief administrator, David Crane said．
NRG administrators expect the cost to decline after six or seven plants are built．But other industry experts think it will take about a dozen plants for the price to be competitive with traditional coal plants．
Takaya Watanabe, a vice general manager of Mitsubishi, admits that the cost challenges are difficult．“It’s good for a company to say we want to be green, but unless someone is willing to pay, it's a dream．It won't keep our family eating rice," he said．
What is expected of the new technology?

A．To make electricity without polluting the air．

B．To produce energy without burning coal．

C．To keep the use of electricity cheaper．

D．To pump carbon dioxide more easily ．

What's the biggest problem the companies are faced with?

A．How to pump greenhouse gases．

B．How to deal with the high cost．

C．How to get along with other partners．

D．How to improve the new technology．

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．New technologies are unacceptable to people．

B．It's unlikely to build more new power plants．

C．The companies are run on a tight budget．

D．Going green is easier said than done．

This is an open letter to the three people who stole my handbag from the department store I am employed as a shop assistant ．
When you took my bag, I don't know what you thought you were going to get．With my wages, there's not much left on a Tuesday．I hope the ￡5 was useful to you ．I have informed the social security office so you won't be able to cash the child benefit next week ．I hope that won't leave you too short．But if you really need a couple of pounds, I suppose you could always cash one of the two checks left in my check book．Of course,I phoned the bank right away and the check-casing card is no longer valid, so it won’t be much use to you ．
Actually I don't mind about the money too much．We single parents who work to support our families understand only too well what it means to be short of cash ．However, I don’t suppose it went very far among the three of you．Sorry about that!
I wish you had left the bag behind and just taken the wallet and check book．There were all kinds of papers in it, and notes and things that I really need．I really think that was very inconsiderate of you ．I mean, how would you like something like that to happen to you?
Well, perhaps the bag will turn up．It wasn't even an expensive one．just a plain, old brown leather shoulder bag．You probably dumped it in the nearest rubbish bin or threw it into the bushes. We've looked around, of course, but no one saw which way you went after you left the shop．
I'm not really angry with you．I know how the pressures of modern living can affect us, but I am sad at the loss of my personal things．I feel violated and helpless．The police were very icy, and they just shrugged（耸） their shoulders．"It happens all the time," they told me ．Some small comfort, I suppose．But I've lost just a little more faith in human nature．And as my young son said when I told him what had happened, "Why? Mummy, why us?" I couldn't answer that question．I wonder if you can．
In writing Paragraph 2, the writer wants to．

A．describe the contents of the bag in detail．

B．give some suggestions to the three thieves

C．tell the thieves hardly any money was available

D．state the fact that she was careless with the money

Which of the following is the most valuable to the writer?

A．The cash in her bag．	B．The papers and notes in the bag．
C．The handbag itself．	D．The check books in the bag．

What can we conclude about the police?

A．They have doubts about human nature．

B．They show sympathy for the woman．

C．They think the case quite common．

D．They are unable to find the thieves．

Why does the author write the letter?

A．To give the thieves a serious warning．

B．To complain about the fall of morality．

C．To call people’s attention to their belongings．

D．To express her affection for her valuable bag．

I had looked forward to this day for a long time．Finally I, Kirsty Sturart, would stand on the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe．Although I climbed often in my native Scotland, this was my first trip to the Alps．My companions—Jean Pierre Barton, Maurice Gautier, and Mary Sargent—and I left our camp early and planned to reach the top by late morning．
As we neared the top, large clouds gathered and it began to snow．We found shelter and decided to wait for the snow to stop．After three hours, however, we decided to go back and try again the next day．We started down the mountain in the thick snow．Jean-Pierre forgot his sunglasses and went back to look for them．As he was returning to us, he started to fall．
His fall started an avalanche（雪崩） and it was falling towards us! I was swept away by the heavy snow. Jean-Pierre hurried down to me．“Are you OK?” he asked．
“I think I broke my leg,” I answered．
“I’d better radio for help!” he said．“Where are the others?” We couldn’t see Maurice or Mary anywhere．
Jean-Pierre called the emergency radio number, and the police said they would send help right away．It seemed like hours, but only minutes later we heard the welcome sound of a helicopter． The helicopter couldn’t land on the mountainside, so they lowered two men, two dogs, and a stretcher（担架）．One man ran to me, but I told him to search for the others．The dogs were trained for avalanche rescue and soon began to dig crazily in the snow．
Bernardo, the lead dog, found Mary’s scarf and led the rescuers to her．Maurice was nearby．The men gave us hot drinks and warm blankets and then prepared to lift us into the helicopter．Two men inside the helicopter pulled us up with the ropes．I went first on the stretcher．
Once we were safely inside, the helicopter flew to the hospital in Chamonix．Our poor rescuers and their dogs had to climb all the way back down the mountain．Later we would find these brave men and thank them for saving our lives．
What prevented the climbers from reaching the top?

A．The terrible weather．

B．The loss of the sunglasses．

C．The injury of the team members．

D．The unexpected height of the mountain．

How did the writer break his leg?

A．The road was covered with snow．

B．His companion knocked into him．

C．The heavy clouds blocked his view．

D．The avalanche caused a fall for him．

How did the writer feel while waiting for help?

A．Anxious．

B．Crazy．

C．Sorry．

D．Annoyed．

What do we learn from the passage?

A．Mary was the leader of the team．

B．The team was upset about their failure．

C．It was several hours before the rescue team arrived ．

D．The writer was excited thinking of climbing Mount Blanc．

Destiny and Personal Responsibility
One important variable affecting communication across cultures is destiny（命运）and personal responsibility. This refers to the degree to which we feel ourselves the masters of our lives, contrary to the degree to which we see ourselves as subject to things outside our control. Another way to look at this is to ask how much we see ourselves able to change and act, to choose the course of our lives and relationships. Some have drawn a parallel between the personal responsibility in North American settings and the view itself. The North American view is vast, with large spaces of unpopulated land. The frontier attitude of “King” of the wilderness, and the expansiveness of the land reaching huge distances, may relate to generally high levels of confidence in the ability to shape and choose our destinies.
In this expansive land, many children grow up with a heroic sense of life, where ideas are big, and hope springs forever. When they experience temporary failures, they encouraged to redouble their efforts, to “try, try again.” Action, efficiency（效率）, and achievement are valued and expected. Free will is respected in laws and enforced by courts.
Now consider places in the world with much smaller land, whose history reflects wars and tough struggles: Northern Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Palestine. In these places, destiny’s role is more important in human life. In Mexico, there is a history of hard life, fighting over land, and loss of homes. Mexicans are more likely to see struggles as part of their life and unavoidable. Their passive attitude is expr4essed in their way of responding to failure or accident by saying “ni modo”(“no way” or “tough lick”), meaning that the failure was destined.
This variable is important to understanding cultural conflict. If someone believing in free will crosses paths with someone more passive, miscommunication is likely. The first person may expect action and accountability. Failing to see it, he may conclude that the second is lazy, not cooperative, or dishonest. The second person will expect respect for the natural order of thins. Failing to see it, he may conclude that the first is forcible, rude, or big headed in his ideas of what can be accomplished or changed.
The author thinks that one’s character is partly determined by.

A．physical senses	B．general attitude
C．financial background	D．geographic characteristics

According to the passage, Mexicans would think that Americans are.

A．impractical

B．dishonest

C．ambitious

D．hesitant

The underlined word “subject” in Paragraph 1 probably means.

A．a topic of a discussion	B．a branch of knowledge
C．a person being experimented on	D．a person under the power of others

The author would probably agree that.

A．vast land may lead to a more controllable desire

B．heroic sense of life roots deeply in a small country

C．living in limited space contributes to an accepting attitude

D．fighting over land may help people gain high levels of confidence

A．listen to music	B．make a call
C．watch TV programs online	D．read newspapers

A．portable	B．environmentally friendly
C．advanced	D．recyclable