One day, when I was working as a psychologist(心理学家) in England, a young boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had introduced him to me before. “This boy has lost his family,” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I’m very worried about him. Can you help?”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems which psychology doesn’t have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and silently. And I would do in this way.
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon—in complete silence and without looking at me. It’s not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering.” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times, about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one—without any words—can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens. When he first met the author, David_________.
| A．felt a little excited | B．walked stubbornly |
| C．looked a little nervous | D．showed up with his teacher |
As a psychologist, the author __________.
| A．was uncertain about psychology | B．was ready to listen to David |
| C．was able to describe David’s problem | D．was sure of solving David’s problem |
David enjoyed being with the author because he____________.
| A．needed to share pain with the author |
| B．wanted to ask the author for advice |
| C．liked the children’s drawing in the office |
| D．beat the author many times in the chess game |
What can be inferred about David?
| A．He recovered after months of treatment. |
| B．He liked biking before he lost his family. |
| C．He went into university soon after starting to talk. |
| D．He got friends in school before he met the author. |
What made David change?
| A．His teacher’s help. |
| B．His exchange of letters with the author. |
| C．The author’s friendship. |
| D．The author’s silent communication with him. |
The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:
“ I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”
“ I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”
But a younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”
I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.
Attitudes are important. Whether they are positive(积极的) or negative (消极的)，they are rubbing off on you. If you are around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim(受害者) , chances are you will start as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.
This is an easy exercise: make a list of the people who you hand out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career(职业) path.”Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed |
| B．How to make friendship last for ever |
| C．You are who your friends are |
| D．Friends are the most important in one’s success |
The underlined sentence “ rubbing off on you” means ________ .
| A．They’ll push you ahead | B．They will influence(影响) you |
| C．They’ll cover your shortcomings | D．They will help you achieve your goal |
The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show _______ .
| A．the musician’s living conditions are quite poor |
| B．People have poor taste in music |
| C．People have different attitudes towards the same thing. |
| D．Young people have greater chances of succeeding |
By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7 , you can _______ .
| A．improve a lot in making more friends |
| B．come to the right way of making friends |
| C．develop a better friendship with your friends |
| D．arrange the time with your friends properly |
The passage is mainly written for ________ .
| A．musicians | B．managers | C．negative people | D．people wanting to succeed |
How do you get a man to do his share of the housework? If you are like most women, you’ve faced this question the hard way.
A man will enjoy a clean, orderly house, but he usually won’t make the effort to clean or organize it. This doesn’t mean that a woman has to do all the housework; she may have to manage many of the household duties, and request her partner’s joining. A woman can often say that men and women should take equal responsibility for housework.
Very few men are raised to be fully responsible for housework, and many men look on housework as women’s work. On the other hand, most men will readily work around the yard, make repairs and complete projects on weekends or evenings, and it’s important that you give your man appreciation(欣赏) for those things, too. Most men will take on a little housework around the house if asked politely. They are even more likely to do housework if they can choose what they want to do , and do it without being monitored(监视).
Here is the key: men want to feel that they are doing housework either because they want to do a task, or they simply want to please their women. Men are less likely to take on household tasks they consider uninteresting and unimportant. In other words, men are likely to do a housework task just for the good of the house.The passage is mainly about how to ________.
| A．get men to do some housework | B．get men to serve their families |
| C．praise men’s housework | D．get men to do all the housework |
According to a passage, a man _______ .
| A．is willing to do housework |
| B．likes to be told to do housework |
| C．is taught to be responsible for housework from childhood |
| D．likes a clean house but doesn’t make effort to clean it. |
In order to get men to do housework, women should often ________ .
| A．order them to do their share | B．ask them to do some housework politely |
| C．blame men’s laziness | D．monitor men’s work |
According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that men won’t __________ .
| A． work without any payment | B．do unimportant housework tasks |
| C．do housework with women’s praises | D．please their wives |
According to the passage, which of the following would a husband most probably like to ?
| A．Cleaning the table | B．Doing some washing |
| C．Painting the fence | D．Asking his wife to work on the yard. |
More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.
Having been in the school for 2 months, I’m getting used to school life, and I am starting to make the most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o’clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o’clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o’clock. After lessons, we have two hours of activity time, when you can choose from a wide range of activities, including all the major sports, such as rugby and football, and also the minor sports such as basketball and tennis.
As a boarder( 寄宿者)，the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional food company, and the quality of food is very excellent and also they take the healthy diet very seriously: I remember once I was once asked to take more salad for my meal by a member of the kitchen staff(员工) for I didn’t have enough vegetables. This brings another point of being a boarder: you need to learn how to look after yourself and be responsible(负责) for yourself. One of the huge advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!The passage mainly tells us about _______.
| A．the author’s school life in the UK as a boarder. |
| B．the author’s opinion of the school life in the UK. |
| C．the differences in school life between China and UK. |
| D．the boarder life in a Britain middle school. |
According to the second paragraph, we can learn that the author _________ .
| A．has not enough time to study | B．likes to play tennis and basketball |
| C．went to the school two months ago | D．finishes school at 4 o’clock |
How many lessons do the students have every week in this school?
| A．15 | B．45 | C．27 | D．18 |
The underlined words “let me down” in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．made me disappointed | B．made me pleased | C．encouraged me | D．amazed me |
As a boarder in the school, the author ___________ .
| A．is not used to the food there | B．has learned to have healthy diets |
| C．is specially taken good care of | D．sleep as much as the day pupils |
When we say older people shrink, we don’t mean they become tiny enough to fit in your pocket! We just mean that it’s common for older people to become a little shorter over time. This kind of shrinking can’t be reversed, although people can slow or stop this process. But why does shrinking happen at all?
Because of gravity (that force that keeps your feet on the ground) , cushions between the bones in the spine (脊骨), get compressed (压缩), which makes a person lose a little height and become shorter.
Another reason why some older people shrink is because of osteoporosis (骨质疏松). Osteoporosis occurs when bone is broken down and not enough new bone material is made. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it’s not being replaced. Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily break if someone with osteoporosis is injured.
Older people — especially women, who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with — are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis can get small breaks in bones that are called compression fractures. These breaks cause collapse of the spine and over time the person with osteoporosis can become hunched over (驼背).
Did you know that every day you shrink a little, too? You aren’t as tall at the end of the day as you are at the beginning. That’s because as the day goes on, water in the disks of the spine gets compressed due to gravity, making you just a tiny bit shorter. Don’t worry, though. Once you get a good night’s rest, your body recovers, and the next morning, you’re standing tall again!
Smoking and drinking alcohol can make this problem worse. Want to do something right now to build strong bones? I believe what I say will help you.Which of the following statements is true?
| A．For shrinking, people can do nothing about it. |
| B．If someone is injured, he will become shorter. |
| C．Women have smaller and lighter bones than men. |
| D．We aren’t as tall at the end of the day as we are at the beginning. |
What should we do if we don’t want to shrink faster?
| A．We should try to reduce gravity. |
| B．We should be careful not to be hurt by others. |
| C．We should sleep as long as possible. |
| D．We should keep away from smoking and drinking alcohol. |
What is the topic of the passage?
| A．How can we stop shrinking? |
| B．Why do we shrink? |
| C．Some tips on how to keep tall. |
| D．How to live a healthy life. |
About osteoporosis we know that _______.
| A．gravity is one of the causes of osteoporosis |
| B．once our bone is broken down, osteoporosis will occur |
| C．women are more likely to develop osteoporosis |
| D．if we develop osteoporosis, we are more likely to be shorter |
What will the author talk about in the paragraph to be followed?
| A．Tell us how to grow taller. |
| B．Tell us how to become healthier. |
| C．Tell us how to avoid being shrinking. |
| D．Tell us what to do to have strong bones. |
Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” he jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes—khaki pants and sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday, but only on Friday. This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday”. “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.” said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale（士气）. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative effect on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict,” because__________.
| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
| B．he couldn’t stand a clean appearance |
| C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
| D．he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
David Smith wears casual clothes now, because__________.
| A．they make him feel at ease when working |
| B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
| C．he looks handsome in casual clothes |
| D．he no longer works for any company |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code. |
| B．Comfortable clothes make employees more productive. |
| C．A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees. |
| D．All the employers in the U.S. are for casual office wear. |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago. |
| B．Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s. |
| C．“Dress-down Friday” was first given as a favor from employers. |
| D．Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people. |
In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned except ______.
| A．saving employees’ money |
| B．making employees more attractive |
| C．improving employees’ motivation |
| D．making employees happier |