While many young people may resist getting a "real job" or becoming independent, these are the things that make you happy and give you purpose. Some people underestimate the satisfaction of working, thinking they'll be miserable. The 20-somethings that do work are happier than those who don' t or are underemployed.
If you invest in your career early，you'll have longer to build it up. 70% of wage growth happens in the first 10 years, so you need to get the best job you can get and negotiate your salary. No one can be sure that people who will wait until their 30s to get going are expecting to experience later to catch up with those of their ages.
Many 20-somethings don't know what they want to do, so they hang around the house or in. low-level jobs waiting for the spirit to move them. Not making a choice is a choice. These 20-somethings think they are keeping their options open, but they are actually closing doors. Resumes start to look thin, their peers(同龄人) begin surpassing them and they may get stuck in underemployment.
It will take about 10,000 hours(or about five years)to really master their jobs. If you're wondering why colleagues seem so smart and confident, it's partly because they've been doing it longer. Young people should learn as much as they can in their first jobs and remember it will take some time to really get good.
The 20-something brain is still developing, which is in charge of critical emotion with reason. This, coupled with less on-the-job experience, means 20-somethings are more sensitive to surprise and criticism. They are more likely to take feedback personally. Step back and get some perspective. You're not going to be fired because your boss is angry. Hear the criticism and learn from it.
The brain doesn't fully mature until your mid-20s, particularly the parts that plan for the future and manage emotions. That doesn't mean you should sit around and wait for it to develop. In. fact, what you learn and experience in your 20s becomes hardwired into your brain and this is the best chance you have to change your brain and change how you think and react. What people do in their 20s determines who they'll be as adults. What is the best title of the passage?
| A．How You Spend Your 20s Will Define You. |
| B．The 20-something Brain Remains To Be Developed. |
| C．Young People Need Employment And Experiences. |
| D．Becoming Mature Should Invest In The Career. |
What can we infer from the whole passage?
| A．Not all people resist becoming independent. |
| B．Adult responsibilities make you happier. |
| C．Not making a choice is a better policy |
| D．It takes chances to get good jobs. |
What does the underlined part "coupled with" mean according to the passage?
| A．multiplied by | B．recounted in. |
| C．composed of. | D．combined with. |
What idea does the writer of the passage support?
| A．Take feedback personally anytime and anywhere. |
| B．It is never too late to wait till a choice is made. |
| C．A lesson should be learned from criticism. |
| D．The satisfaction of working is not contented. |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff(东西) they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer, In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. “Oh, dear!” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate(绝望的) now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were______ .
| A．asleep | B．outside | C．working in bed | D．quietly laughing at him |
The underlined word “wretched” in Paragraph 3 probably means _______.
| A．very happy | B．disappointed | C．very unhappy | D．hopeful |
What do you suppose happened to the author?
| A．He went to a church to pray again. | B．He passed the exam by sheer luck. |
| C．He failed in the exam. | D．He was punished by his teacher. |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
| A．The Night Before the Examination | B．Working Far into the Night |
| C．A Slow Student | D．Going Over My Lessons |
Douglas Grace talks about his ideal city of the future.
I see the city of the future in three zones—inner, middle and outer. In the inner zone there will be no private cars. Public transport will be free and there will only be ambulances, fire engines, taxis and police cars. This inner zone will be the residential(住宅的) and recreational(娱乐的) area of the city. People will live there and go out to enjoy themselves—to cinemas and restaurants. There will be parks and open spaces, trees and lakes, schools and universities. This way, when people are at home, they can go out easily and safely.
Just outside the inner zone there will be big car parks for all private cars.
The banks and most of the shops and hospitals will be in the middle zone. These are things that people don’t need every day.
All the factories and offices will be in the outer zone. People will travel out of the center to work, and back to the center in the evenings. The inner zone will be cleaner and better to live in and there will be more space for industry on the outside.
This is my ideal city of the future—a very beautiful place! But I don’t really think things will ever be like that!Where will people live and go out to enjoy themselves?
| A．In the middle zone. | B．In the inner zone. | C．In the outer zone. | D．In the inner and middle zone. |
Where will big car parks be?
| A．Just outside the middle zone. | B．Just inside the middle zone. |
| C．Just outside the inner zone. | D．Just inside the inner zone. |
What will be in the middle zone?
| A．The banks, hospitals and schools. | B．The banks, hospitals and police stations. |
| C．The banks, schools and car parks. | D．The banks, hospital and most of the shops. |
Douglas Grace is probably_____.
| A．a painter | B．a builder | C．a town planner | D．a dentist |
The Man behind Blue Jeans
Levi Strauss was born in 1829 in Bavaria, Germany. He was the fifth of six children. His father sold dry goods from door to door. (Dry goods include many different things: fabric, thread, scissors, combs, buttons, yarn, etc.)
In 1845, his father died. All six children decided to go to the United States. Two of Strauss’ bothers started a dry goods company in New York City. Strauss’ sister Fanny and her husband started a similar business in San Francisco. Strauss decided to go to the southeastern part of the United States. For eight years, he walked along the country roads selling dry goods from door to door –just like his father in Bavaria.
In 1853, Strauss decided to move to San Francisco. (At that time, thousands of people traveled to California to look for gold.) On the way to California, Strauss sold almost all of his dry goods. He had only one thing left—some canvas.
In California, Strauss tried to sell the canvas to the gold miners. He said they could make tents from the canvas. But they weren’t interested in canvas for tents. Strauss didn’t know what to do with the canvas. Then, he had an idea. Strauss could see that the miners needed new pants. There were holes in their pants because the fabric wasn’t strong. He decided to make the canvas into pants. They called them “Levi’s”. Later, Strauss stopped using canvas and used a different fabric. It was a heavy cotton fabric—the same kind people wear today.
Levi Strauss died in 1902. He never married and left his money to his nephews. He left the world much more—the jeans that so many people wear.________ isn’t a kind of dry goods.
| A．Thread | B．Gold | C．Comb | D．Yarn |
What is canvas?
| A．Tent. | B．Pants. | C．A very strong fabric. |
| D．Anything which is used to make all kinds of trousers. |
Why did the miners call the pants “Levi’s”?
| A．Because the pants belonged to Levi Strauss’ father | |
| B．In memory of Levi Strauss’ father. | C．It’s the name of Levi’ Strauss’ nephew. |
| D．Because the pants are Levi’s invention. |
Which of the following is NOT true about Levi Strauss?
| A．He was born in Germany. | B．His parents had six children. |
| C．He had five children. | D．He died in 1902. |
阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，共40分）
Bend over, take a deep breath and drink some water! This is just one of hundreds of tips you might get if you have the hiccups(打嗝). Hiccups are so mysterious. We really don’t know why they start and why they stop. Everyone has a favorite cure for a case of the hiccups. Some people think that a good scare is necessary to get well. Others eat a teaspoon of sugar. Still others drink a glass of water with a knife in it.
An American man named Jack O’Leary claimed to have hiccupped 160 million times over a period of eight years. He tried 60,000 cures, but none of them worked. Finally he prayed to Saint Jude, the saint of Hopeless cases, and his hiccupping stopped immediately.
It took a British plumber eight months to cure his hiccups. People from all over the world wrote him letters with suggestions for getting well. He tried them all, but the hiccups continued. Finally, he drank a “secret” mixture someone had sent him. By that evening his hiccups were gone.
Why did these cures work for these two men? No one really knows. But people who have studied many cases of hiccups have an idea. Hiccups usually go away if you believe in the cure. _________ might be the best cure for hiccups.
| A．Special pills | B．A spoonful of salt | C．Cold water |
| D．What you believe in |
The plumber spent __________ in stopping his hiccups.
| A．4 hours | B．2 days | C．8 months | D．8 years |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．We know why the hiccups start, but we don’t know how to stop them. |
| B．Saint Jude is an expert in curing the hiccups. |
| C．The British plumber drank a secret mixture given by an experienced doctor and then became well. |
| D．Some people think that a good scare is a cure for a case of hiccups. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Different ways to stop hiccups | B．What makes hiccups happen |
| C．How to get hiccups | D．Jack O’Leary’s hiccups |
When coal is burned in a boiler, two kinds of ash by-products are produced: a heavy bottom ash and a fine-as-powder fly ash. About 10 to 15 percent of the coal by-product is bottom ash which is used like sand on streets and highways covered with ice, and also on highways as paving material.
It is the fly ash, however, that is receiving much attention. Once considered a waste, fly ash is now regarded as a natural resource in the United States. It can be placed in some lower places, where it is compacted and covered with soil, for the seeds of various grasses and plants to be placed in the soil to make the land productive.
Fly ash may be added to concrete to build roads and other kinds of buildings, taking the place of the cement up to 20 percent. As a by-product of burned coal, fly ash requires no extra energy to be produced, while cement production requires great amounts of energy.
Besides, the technology is able to take out some useful minerals from the fly ash, which is still a very expensive process today. But the time may come when it is cheaper to take out these products from ash than to mine new supplies. The bottom ash can be put on icy streets________.
| A．in order to rebuild them | B． in order to make them colourful |
| C．so that people can walk on them | D．so that cars can run faster |
The fly ash_______ bottom ash.
| A．has the same use as | B． is more expensive than |
| C．has more uses than | D．is much cheaper than |
The fly ash can be used to________.
| A．grow various plants | B． take the place of soil |
| C．cover productive land | D．make more productive land |
Which of the following is right?
| A．To produce fly ash, some extra coal is to be burned. |
| B． Fly ash is made while producing cement. |
| C．It takes less energy to produce fly ash than cement. |
| D．Fly ash is a costless by-product. |
The word “mine” in the last sentence of the passage means_______.
| A．to buy things from other countries |
| B． to search for useful materials in the mountains |
| C．to dig deeply into the ground to get useful materials |
| D．to take out certain materials from other things |