A few common misconceptions. Beauty is only skin-deep. One' s physical assets and liabilities don' t count all that much in a managerial career. A woman should always try to look her best.
Over the last 30 years, social scientists have conducted more than 1,000 studies of how we react to beautiful and not- so-beautiful people. The virtually unanimous conclusion: Looks do matter, more than most of us realize. The data suggest, for example, the physically attractive individuals are more likely to be treated well by their parents, sought out as friends, and pursued romantically. With the possible exception of women seeking managerial jobs they are also more likely to be hired, paid well, and promoted.
Un-American, you say, unfair and extremely unbelievable? Once again, the scientists have caught us mouthing pieties (虔诚) while acting just the contrary. Their typical experiment works something like this. They give each member of a group--college students, perhaps, or teachers or corporate personnel managers a piece of paper relating an individual' s accomplishments. Attached to the paper is a photograph. While the papers all say exactly the same thing the pictures are different. Some show a strikingly attractive person, some an average-looking character, and some an unusually unattractive human being. Group members are asked to rate the individual on certain attributes, anything from personal warmth to the likelihood that he or she will be promoted.
Almost invariably, the better looking the person in the picture, the higher the person is rated. In the phrase, borrowed from Sappho, that the social scientists use to sum up the common perception, what is beautiful is good.
In business, however, good looks cut both ways for women, and deeper than for men. A Utah State University professor, who is an authority on the subject, explains: In terms of their careers, the impact of physical attractiveness on males is only modest. But its potential impact on females can be tremendous, making it easier, for example, for the more attractive to get jobs where they are in the public eye. on another note, though, there is enough literature now for us to conclude that attractive women who aspire (追求) to managerial positions do not get on as well as who may be less attractive. In "Beauty is only skin-deep", "skin-deep" can be replaced by______.
| A．decorating | B．superficial | C．expressive | D．demanding |
"One's physical assets and liabilities don' t count all that much in a managerial career."(paral) can be interpretated as______.
| A．whether or not one looks good or bad, it doesn' t affect much one' s managerial career |
| B．in one' s managerial career, he may deal with cases like assets and liabilities |
| C．in one' s managerial career, he may rarely deal with cases like assets and liabilities |
| D．whether or not one looks good or bad, it may affect much one' s managerial career |
The result of research carried out by social scientists show that______.
| A．people do not realize the importance of looking one' s best |
| B．women in pursuit of managerial jobs are not likely to be paid well |
| C．good -looking women aspire to managerial positions |
| D．attractive people generally have an advantage over those who are not |
"Good looks cut both ways for women" (Para.5) means that______.
| A．attractive women have tremendous potential impact on public job |
| B．good-looking women always get the best of everything |
| C．being attractive is not always an advantage for women |
| D．attractive women do not do as well as unattractive women in managerial positions |
It can be inferred from the passage that in the business world______.
| A．handsome men are not affected as much by their looks as attractive women are |
| B．physically attractive women who are in the public eye usually do quite well |
| C．physically attractive men and women who are in the public eye usually get along quite well |
| D．good looks are important for women as they are for men |
Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.
Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact and build relationship. These are a few of recently recognized features of email, say experts, that should cause individual and organizations to rethink the way they use email.
“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits, ”says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern to the way we write.
Baron argues that we should not forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in emails. “ The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.
Others say that despite its poor prose(文字), email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.
“Email is a critical new communication technology,” says Ian Lancashire, a University of Toronto professor of English.“It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”
Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech.“ It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.
Still, he accepts that this newfound freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble.“Almost everyday I get emails that apologies of previous emails,” he reports.
In the US, the number of emails sent in a day exceeds(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.
5.The passages mainly shows us that .
A people should stop using email to communicate
B experts hold different opinions about email
C Americans only use email to communicate
D email makes people lose interest in English
6. In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because_____.
A. it can be used all over the world
B. it is the fastest way to communicate
C. we can express ourselves in a free way
D. we can save a lot of paper
7. Which of the following is NOT true about email?
A. It is changing the way of communication.
B. It is used more than letters in the US.
C. It helps us write better.
D. It causes us to write more.
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Is a loved one missing some body parts? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimps（黑猩猩）differ in only 400 genes. And should that worry us ?Is it horrible for you thinking one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, or a person and his family may be hunted cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes? We live in a time of great scientific leaps! Next challenges our sense of reality, blending fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems. |
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The son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry. India. Planning a move to Canada, his family takes a ride on an enormous ship. After a shipwreck。Pi finds himself in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a hyena（鬣狗）, a orangutan（猩猩）, and a tiger named Richard Parker It sounds like a colorful setup. But these wild animals don’t burst into song as in the Disney cartoons. All want to survive, however Pi finds himself the weakest one of all. After much infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat’s only passengers. Pi is left to survive for 227 days through waters with his large dangerous companion, using all his knowledge, wits and faith. |
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Five people you meet in heaven When a lonely and elderly man dies in an accident, he awakens in an unfamiliar place called Heaven where five people, some strangers, some loved ones, take him on a clear journey through his life. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal（揭示）, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie learns “lessons”, finds out why certain events happened in his physical life, and understands the meaning of his own life. The book explores the unexpected mysteries of the afterlife by reminding us what really matters here on earth |
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Marley＆Me：life and love with the world’s worst dog Job and Jenny were just beginning their life together They brought home Marley, a yellow fur-ball of a dog Life would never be the same. Marley crashed through doors, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around. However, just as he refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. He shard the couple’s joy and heartbreak. He was there whenever the couple needs help Marley＆Me is so much more than the story of a lovable dog；it’s the story of a family. Toward the end of book, Grogan speaks of the life lessons-loyalty, courage, devotion, simplicity, joy-that Marley taught him. |
1. What does the underlined word “blending” in the first hook introduction mean_________.
A. ruin B. break C. combine D. attempt
2. What happened to the survivors on the life boat according to the introduction?
A. Pi managed to kill those animals and finally survived
B. They worked hand in hand to get through the sea
C. They had to fight against one another in order to survive
D. Richard Parker killed other animals but was killed by Pi.
3. Five People You Meet in Heaven tells an old man’s experience in Heaven in order to reveal___.
A. the existence of Heave B. the mystery of death
C. human’s future life D. the true meaning of life
4. Who is Grogan most probably according to the introduction?
A. The author of Marley＆Me B. A friend of John and Jenny
C. An expert taming dogs. D. The previous owner of the dog
People and the sources of air pollution are found in the same places. This means that cities with large populations have the biggest problem of dirty air. Air pollution is caused by many different things. A major source of air pollution is the gas fumes from cars. Statistics show that 93 percent of all auto trips are within cities. Another major source of dirty air is the burning of coal and oil for energy. This energy is needed to make electricity. Of course, much more electricity is used in the city than in the country.
On the average, we throw away more trash and garbage than the year before. The burning of garbage contributes to air pollution. Many major industries are also responsible for the dirty air in the around cities. The fumes from iron, steel, chemical, and petroleum production add particles to the air.
The effects of air pollution range from mild headaches to death. The levels of pollution found in heavy for traffic may cause headaches for loss of clear vision. Wherever coal and oil are used for fuel, fumes may kill trees and plants and cause metal to corrode. In some of the larger cities, these fumes endanger the live of human beings by contributing to lung diseases and causing early death.
15．The key point of the passage is that _________.
A. the cause of air pollution is people
B. the causes and the effects of air pollution are both found in cities
C. the effects of air pollution range from headaches to death
D. air pollution is caused by dirty air
16．What is the purpose of this passage?
A. to persuade people to stop polluting the air
B. to tell the causes of air pollution
C. to tell why cities are bad places to live
D. to describe why cities are bad places to live
17. Why is air pollution more grave in the city than in the country?
A. Because there larger populations in cities.
B. Because the air in the city is dirty.
C. Because there are more cars in the city.
D. Because there are much more gas fumes from cars and burning of coal and oil for energy
in the city than in the country.
18．The fumes from coal and oil may cause metal ______.
A. to turn black B. to become rusty
C. to corrode D. to twist
19. In larger cities, the fumes from coal and oil may contribute to ___________.
A. heart disease B. lung diseases
C. loss of clear vision D. serious headache
Georgia was waking up to a new president Monday but it was also getting as its first lady a greeneyed linguist from Holland who has already managed to cast a spell over the little Caucasus nation. Sandra Roelofs is seen by some as the secret weapon which enables her husband Saakashvili to win in this presidential election.
She runs an investment consultancy（投资咨询公司）, speaks six languages and some believe she is the real brains behind her husband’s rise to power.
Roelofs, who is a year younger than her husband, met him in 1993 when he was studying an international law programme in Strasbourg, France. She planed to go from there to Somalis as an aid worker but Saakashvili persuaded her to go with him instead to New York, where he had got a scholarship. They married soon after and when Saakashvili returned to his native Georgia to begin a career in politics, she went with him.
She has enchanted(使人心醉) many of her adopted countrymen. The mention of her name sends women swooning（神魂颠倒）, and melts the tough expressions of strong Georgian men.“You can really tell that she cares about people,” says a resident of the capital, Tbilisi.“She runs a hunitarian organization. She is smart and pretty and kind and did you hear the way she speaks Georgian? Perfectly!”
The new first lady’s looks and intelligence play a large part in her appeal. But Georgians are especially taken by her simple manner. She has said that she plans to keep living in the family’s modest flat, even though they have the right to move into a luxurious government residence. “She doesn’t care about fancy houses and cars.” said Malika, a 29yearold civil servant in Tbilisi.
11. The underlined part “cast a spell over” means_________.
A. cast a shadow over B. attract
C. love D. respect
12. Which of the following can be best used to describe Sandra Roelofs?
A. Proud. B. Hardworking. C. Charming. D. Humble.
13.What moves Georgians most is that Sandra Roelofs is very ________.
A. pretty B. modest C. intelligent D. plain
14. Which is the right order in which Sandra Roelofs did the following?
a. Roelofs married Saakashvili.
b. She planned to go from France to Somalis as an aid worker.
c. Roelofs runs an investment consultancy.
d. Roelofs came from Holland.
e. Roelofs went to Georgia with Saakashvili.
A. daecb B. dabec
C. abecd D. dbaec
Faces, like fingerprints, are unique. Did you ever wonder how it is possible for us to recognize people? Even a skilled writer probably could not describe all the features that make one face different from another. Yet a very young child --- or even an animal, such as a pigeon --- can learn to recognize faces. We all take this ability for granted. We also tell people apart by how they behave. When we talk about someone’s personality, we mean the ways in which he or she acts, speaks, thinks and feels that make that individual different from others.
Like the human face, human personality is very complex. But describing someone’s personality in words is somewhat easier than describing his face. If you were asked to describe what a nice face looked like, you probably would have a difficult time doing so. But if you w
ere asked to describe a nice person, you might begin to think about someone who was kind, considerate, friendly, warm, and so forth.
There are many words to describe how a person thinks, feels and acts. Gordon, an American psychologist, found nearly 18,000 English words characterizing differences in people’s behavior. And many of us use this information as a basis for describing, or typing his personality.
Bookworms, conservatives（保守派）, military（军人或军事的）types --- people are described with such terms. People have always tried to type each other. Actors in early Greek drama wore masks to show the audience whether they played the villain’s or the hero’s role. In fact, the words “person” and “personality” come from the Latin persona, meaning mask. Today, most television and movie actors do not wear masks. But we can easily tell the good guys from the bad guys because the two types differ in appearance as well as in actions.
6.The passage tells the readers ______.
A. how to describe people’s faces
B. how to describe p
eople’s personality
C. how to differ good persons from bad ones
D. how to describe people both inward and outward
7. What is the possible role of the writer?
A. Psychologist B. Behaviorist C. Writer D. Sociologist
8. Which of the following is incorrect?
A. Different people may have different personalities.
B. People differ from each in appearance.
C. People can describe all the features of others.
D. People can learn to recognize faces.
9. It is easier to describe a person’s personality in words than his face because ______.
A. a person’s face is more complex than his personality
B. a person’s personality is easily distinguished
C. people’s personalities are very alike
D. many words are available when people try to describe one’s personality
10. People classify a person into certain type according to ______.
A. his way of acting and thinking
B. his way of speaking and behaving
C. his learning and behavior
D. his physical appearance and his personality