I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day. The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”What did the author do with the students found dishonest?
| A．He reported them to the headmaster. | B．He lectured them hard on honesty. |
| C．He had them take notes before lunch. | D．He helped improve their writing skills. |
The author found that compared with the true excuse notes, the produced ones by the students were usually ________.
| A．less impressive | B．less convincing | C．worse written | D．more imaginative |
The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that the students could learn_________.
| A．the importance of being honest | B．how to be creative in writing |
| C．the pleasure of creative writing | D．how to write excuse notes skillfully |
The underlined word “forged” in the second paragraph means “________”.
| A．false | B．copied | C．former | D．honest |
What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?
| A．Misleading. | B．Difficult | C．Effective. | D．Reasonable. |
For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect, Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication (含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall( 全面的) efforts, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of overpraise on 400 fifth grades while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on the tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“ Praising attributes (品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues efforts, so children are afraid to take on challenges, ” says Dweck, now at Stanford University. “They figure they’d better quit while they’ re ahead.”The underlined words “ Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are _______.
A. tired of being praised
B. worthy of being praised
C. very proud of being praised
D extremely fond of being praised.. The author quoted (引用) Dr. Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.
| A．better-known | B．better-organized |
| C．more believable | D．more interesting |
. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
| A．praise for efforts should be more encouraged |
| B．praise for results works better than praise for efforts |
| C．praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life. |
| D．praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges |
People often talk as if shyness is a disease or mental condition that can be cured. I prefer to think of it as an emotional disability. It’s something we are born with and something we carry with us in our entire lives. There are too many people, however, who seem to be determined to find some way of doing away with their shyness. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time. I don’t mean that we should do nothing about it; quite the contrary, I think we need to separate the basic fact of shyness from our ability to take part in a social environment.
Look at one of the most famous shy people of them all, Johnny Carson. This man is painfully shy, yet for decades he made a living talking and associating with different people every night, in front of a national audience. Carson has never done away with his shyness, but he has successfully found a way to deal with it to the extent that he could be, not just a talk show host, but a legend (传奇) among talk show hosts. Look also at Sally Fields, who has recently admitted her problem with shyness. This is a woman who has appeared in many films, TV shows and interviews, yet in her early years she was so shy that she turned down a lunch invitation from Jane Fonda because she was terribly afraid of meeting her.
I guess that our shyness is there because each of us is born with some insecurity (不安全感) and this insecurity prevents us from reading out to others the way people with a more open personality do. As we grow up and become adults, we allow our social skills to grow and develop. But we are still stuck in kindergarten or elementary school or wherever it was when our shyness took root in our soul.. In the author’s view, shyness can be explained as _________.
| A．a disease that can be easily cured |
| B．a not very normal mental condition |
| C．an emotional disability |
| D．something we pick up after birth |
. The author believes it’s a waste of time to ____________
| A．develop a healthy personality |
| B．talk with as many people as possible |
| C．study where shyness comes from |
| D．look for ways to do away with one’s shyness |
. Which of the following is TRUE of Johnny Carson?
| A．He dared to speak in front of a national audience. |
| B．He did away with his shyness carefully. |
| C．He was described as a hero in some legend books. |
| D．He failed to become a good talk show host. |
. The author thinks that our shyness is there because _______
| A．we are not open enough |
| B．we don’t feel safe at heart |
| C．we try to reach out to others all the time |
| D．we lack certain social skills |
When 7-year-old Warren Buffet said “ I will be the richest man one day”, his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money, selling drinks, delivering newspapers and buying stocks. He had already earned $ 9,000 ( equal to $ 90,000 today) by the time he graduated from high school and became a millionaire at 32.
And this month the 77-year- old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of great investment in the stock market, made his childhood dream come true. With a fortune of $ 62billion, Buffet has risen to be the world’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine.
Born in 1930, Buffet, the only son of a stockbroker, started on achieving his billion-dollar dream at an early age and was always ready to think outside the box to develop his business. At 8 he went to golf courses collecting and selling used balls.
At 11 when he sold soda pop door to door with a friend, the pair collected lids on the streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.
As a paper boy during high school, Buffet delivered two rival (竞争对手的)papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffet bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collect rent.
Young Buffet stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $ 5. The experience taught him one of the virtues (品质) in investing: patience.
After graduating from university, Buffet started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-cola, Buffet has become rich.
“Learning is important to Buffet’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning, from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he finally over achieved his aptitude ( 才能) ，” said Charlie Munger, his long-time business partner.Which of the following questions has NOT been discussed in the selection？
| A．What is Buffet’s approach to investing. |
| B．How do other people view Buffet. |
| C．How has Buffet handled hardships in his life. |
| D．How did Buffet make a fortune and realize his dream. |
With the example of delivering two rival papers in high school, the author intends to tell us that Buffet______.
| A．had a good sense of business |
| B．was a good paper boy |
| C．was hard to deal with business |
| D．knew anything but how to make money |
. What did Buffet learn from his early experience of investing in stock market?
| A．You never stop learning. |
| B．Be patient in business. |
| C．Only buy stocks of solid companies that are undervalued and inexpensive. |
| D．Stick to buying stocks in companies such as American Express and Coca-cola. |
. Which of the following can most probably serve as the title of the selection?
| A．Buffet – Good Example for All |
| B．Buffet- a Newspaper Boy |
| C．Buffet- Investor in Stock Market |
| D．Buffet- a Successful Daydreamer |
For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect, Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication (含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall( 全面的) efforts, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of overpraise on 400 fifth grades while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on the tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“ Praising attributes (品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues efforts, so children are afraid to take on challenges, ” says Dweck, now at Stanford University. “They figure they’d better quit while they’ re ahead.”The underlined words “ Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are _______.
A. tired of being praised
B. worthy of being praised
C. very proud of being praised
D extremely fond of being praised.. The author quoted (引用) Dr. Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.
| A．better-known | B．better-organized |
| C．more believable | D．more interesting |
. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
| A．praise for efforts should be more encouraged |
| B．praise for results works better than praise for efforts |
| C．praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life. |
| D．praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges |
The new iPhone 3G should please everyone . Its look and feel are only slightly improved, but a faster network loads Web pages more quickly , true GPS functionality allows it to easily find places nearby , and the new $199 price(down from $400) makes it an affordable luxury.
Before deciding whether to buy, however , make sure you can actually take advantage of the iPhone 3G’s high-speed data network. 3G stands for third-generation , which in non-geek speak translates to Web pages and mail messages that, ideally, load about three times faster than on the original iPhone. Even better, 3G coverage enables you to make a phone call and surf the Web at the same time . That’s great, if you live or work in a place where the 3G network of AT&T(美国电话电报公司)(the sole wireless carrier of the iPhone) is active. That’s not so great in cities like New York where AT&T’s cellular(电台通讯网) coverage is awful. As one of my colleagues in New York City, who bought the original iPhone , commented , “It’s just a toy . You can’t make phone calls on it, so I carry my Verizon phone with me all the time.”
The real fun begins when you tap on the icon(计算机图标)called “Apple Store” and start browsing (浏览) the hundreds of add-on applications that have been developed just for the iPhone. You will find tons of games (I like JirboBreak , a free game inspired by the Atari classic Breakout ) and mobile version of popular websites like Pandora , Facebook , MySpace and the New York Times . Most apps will cost you , but the vast majority are $9.99 or less. The apps work on the old iPhone too, but you’ll enjoy them a lot more on the iPhone 3G because many of the programs , including Yelp(local business reviews ), Whrrl (mobile social networking) and UrbanSpoon(restaurant reviews), use you exact location --- provided by the iPhone 3G’s GPS chip --- to make recommendations. The apps also load much faster over the 3G network.. The new iPhone 3G has following features except that _____.
| A．it looks and feels better |
| B．it has a faster network |
| C．it is easy to locate a place |
| D．it is too expensive for people to buy |
.Why does one of my colleagues carry Verizon phone with him all the time?
| A．Because iPhone 3G is just a toy. |
| B．Because he prefers Verizon phone better . |
| C．Because AT&T’s cellular coverage is terrible there. |
| D．Because Verizon phone enables him make a phone call and surf the Web at the same time. |
. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage ?
| A．App Store will offer you great fun . |
| B．Many apps have been developed for the iPhone. |
| C．Most apps are very expensive. |
| D．Pandora , Facebook, MySpace and the New York Times are popular websites. |
. From the passage we know that the attitude of the author toward iPhone 3G is ____.
| A．doubtful | B．appreciate | C．optimistic | D．pessimistic |