Everyone wants some degree of success. Many people believe that they deserve success simply because they believe that they deserve success.
But there is a widespread belief that people who get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it, but because of influential (有影响的) friends or the right background. Sometimes it may just be a comforting and harmless belief, while at the other extreme it can be very destructive. I once met a brilliant young engineer who worked in a chemical plant. Because of her knowledge and experience, she should have been promoted to Production Manager. Instead, the job went to a man who was totally unsuited for the post. Everyone knew that he only got it because he was politically acceptable to his superiors (上司). This injustice discouraged the young engineer and many of her colleagues. It also meant that the factory was much less efficient than it could have been.
At the same time, we should not be pessimistic (悲观的). More and more the modern world depends on having people who are in the job because they are good enough, not just because their faces fit. There is a story of a factory owner who sent for an engineer to see to a machine which would not go. He examined it, then took out a hammer and tapped, once. The machine started up immediately. When he presented his bill, the owner protested, "This can't be right! $ 100 just for tapping a machine with a hammer?" The engineer wrote out a new bill: "For tapping a machine, $1; for knowing where to tap. $99."The engineer at the chemical plant was not promoted because _____.
| A．it was politically less good for the boss to accept her than the man |
| B．her boss did not think she had the fight qualifications for the job |
| C．the man who got the promotion was more experienced than she was |
| D．it is more difficult for a woman to get a promotion than for her male colleague |
The engineer who repaired the machine was right in charging $ 100 because____.
| A．he hit the machine to get it started again |
| B．the factory owner could not have repaired it himself |
| C．he was charging for his knowledge and expert skills |
| D．he was the only person who could find out what was wrong with it |
What can we learn about the author's attitude toward the widespread belief that "people get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it"?
| A．He quite agrees with it. |
| B．He doesn't express his opinion his opinion at it. |
| C．He completely disagrees with it. |
| D．He doesn't quite agree with it. |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Having influential friends or right background seems helpful sometimes. |
| B．The engineer had good reason to overcharge the factory owner. |
| C．Not all those who are good in their jobs have the chance to be promoted. |
| D．Those who are good in their jobs are still largely needed by the modern society. |
What Is a Boy?
Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males send them off to bed at night.
Boys are found everywhere –-- on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocolate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.
When you are busy, a boy is a trouble-maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature destroying the world and himself with it
A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion (消化) of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker(鞭炮), but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs on each hand.
He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.
Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.
A boy is a magical creature – he is your headache but when you come home at night with only destroyed pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”The whole passage is in a tone (语气) of _________.
| A．respect and harmony | B．humor and love |
| C．hope and expectation | D．confidence and imagination |
What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence?
| A．He has altogether five fingers. | B．He is slow, foolish and clumsy. |
| C．He becomes clever and smart. | D．He cuts his hand with a knife. |
According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except _________.
| A．ice cream | B．comic books |
| C．Saturday mornings | D．Sunday schools |
What does the writer feel about boys?
| A．He feels curious about their noise. | B．He is tired of these creatures. |
| C．He is amazed by their naughtiness. | D．He feels unsafe staying with them. |
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps producers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream –as well as for developing over 75 flavors （味道）.
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job; after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No –-- there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and rates 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12 F. Harrisonexplains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,”he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the colour expected from that flavor?”Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy – working at once cool job.What is John Harrison’s job?
| A．An official. | B．An ice-cream taster. |
| C．A chemist. | D．An ice-cream producer |
According to John Harrison, to be qualified(有资格的) in the “cool field”, it is helpful to.
| A．keep a diary of work | B．have a degree in related subjects |
| C．have new ideas every day | D．find out new flavors each day |
What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
| A．He stirs the ice cream. |
| B．He examines the colour of the ice cream. |
| C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. |
| D．He lets the ice cream warm up. |
Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
| A．Tasting with Eyes | B．Flavors of Ice Cream |
| C．John Harrison’s Life | D．One Cool Job |
The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一度时髦的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of The Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former head of the Language Center at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBCMagazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便).” Adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBCMagazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.People use iPlayer to _________.
| A．listen to music | B．make a call |
| C．watch TV programs online | D．read newspapers |
We can infer that The Independent’s “i” is aimed at _________.
| A．young readers | B．old readers |
| C．fashionable women | D．engineers |
Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are _________.
| A．portable | B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced | D．recyclable |
The writer suggests that _________.
| A．“i” products are often of high quality |
| B．iTeddy is a living bear |
| C．the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products |
| D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
In Canada and the United States, there is a new group of children called “satellite kids”, who live in one place but whose parents live in another place.
Asians are immigrating (移民) to Canada and the United States in larger numbers than ever before. Most Asians immigrate because they believe that they can give their children a better education in the West. In Asia, especially in China, Japan, and Korea, it is difficult to go to university. Students must first pass the strict national examination. However, in Canada and the United States, it is easy to go to university, and anyone who wants to go can go. As a result, Asian parents decide to leave their countries so that their children can go to university.
The problem is that when Asians arrive, they discover that finding a job and making money are more difficult in the West than in the East. Also, they find that they are very lonely, and that they miss their homes. For these two reasons, most Asian parents decide to go back to work while their children study in the West. Therefore, these children become “satellite kids”, and most of their parents do not know how sad it is to be a “satellite kid”.
Only until now are Canadians and Americans discovering the “satellite kid” problem. Because these children do not speak English and because their parents are not there to take care of them, they are often absent from school. To be a “satellite kid” means to grow up in a country where you know you are different and where you cannot make friends because you do not speak English well. Also, it means to grow up lonely, because your parents are elsewhere. What these “satellite kids” will probably say to their parents is that it’s better to have parents around than to have a university education.Some Asian parents send their kids abroad because ________.
| A．they hope their children may easily find a job there |
| B．the kids may not be accepted by universities in their own countries |
| C．all foreign universities are better than the ones in their own countries |
| D．the kids want to improve their English and make foreign friends |
“Satellite kids” refer to Asian kids ________.
| A．without parents | B．living abroad alone |
| C．with university education | D．speaking no English |
Some Asian immigrant children become “satellite kids” because their parents ________.
| A．want to leave their own country | B．want them to go to university |
| C．return to their countries to work | D．want them to be independent |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Parents want better education for their kids. |
| B．Parents feel lonely and miss their families. |
| C．Canadians and Americans begin to notice the “satellite kids” problem. |
| D．Kids in foreign countries alone are badly in need of care from family. |
| Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli (刺激). Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, entertainment or all of the above. |
| An animal trainer may use various forms of reinforcement (强化) or punishment to condition an animal’s responses. Some animal trainers may have a knowledge of the principles of behavior analysis and operant conditioning (操作性条件反射), but there are many ways to train animals and as a general rule no legal requirements or certifications are required. |
 Training chickens has become a way for trainers of other animals (primarily dogs) to perfect their training technique. Bob Bailey, former director of Animal Behavior Enterprises and the IQ Zoo, teaches chicken training courses where trainers teach chickens to tell different shapes, to successfully pass through a way with obstacles (障碍) and to chain behaviors together. Chicken training is done using operant conditioning, using a clicker and chicken feed for reinforcement. |
 Fish can also be trained. For example, a goldfish may swim toward its owner and follow him as he walks through the room, but will not follow anyone else. The fish may swim up and down signaling the owner to turn on its aquarium light when it is off, and it will skim the surface until its owner feeds it. Pet goldfish have also been taught to perform more difficult tasks, such as doing the limbo (a kind of dance) and pushing a very small soccer ball into a net. |
 Among all animals, they are the third cleverest after monkeys and dolphins. Scientists think the training of pigs is easier than the training of dogs and cats. Pigs have a very good sense of smell. They can find things nearby or faraway. They can also help the police to find out drugs at an airport or at a train station. |
The aim of training animals is to _________.
| A．detect objects for people | B．keep people company |
| C．protect or entertain people | D．all of the above |
Which is True according to the passage?
| A．Most people teach animals general responses to general conditions. |
| B．Training animals requires some certifications. |
| C．Training chickens is a way to improve the trainers’ skills. |
| D．Chickens can be trained to help the police to find out drugs. |
According to the passage, a fish can _________.
| A．be trained to follow anyone |
| B．turn on its aquarium light when it is off |
| C．signal its owner to feed it |
| D．take part in a football game in the field |
Scientists think the training of pigs is easier because _________.
| A．pigs do not bite like dogs |
| B．pigs are smart animals |
| C．pigs have a good sense of hearing |
| D．pigs can help find out drugs at an airport |