When I started my career in management, I was really green, but I always tried to stay positive on the job. I was working for a new company that was having a difficult time with its customers. Actually, at one point my General Manager told me he liked me and suggested I should start looking for a new job as we were about to lose our only order. Every day we faced people leaving the company, customers complaining, and upper management preparing to close the place.
One night, I went home thinking about the problems. My wife told me to forget about work and see a movie. We went and saw Slumdog Millionaire. Jamal, an eighteen-year-old Indian young man, is from a poor family and becomes rich later. He tries his best to change his position. I realized what we needed to do was to correct the situation.
The next day I called my customers to have a talk. I promised to do my best to solve the problems if they would give us some time. As a result, we were given one month to turn the situation around. This was our only chance to correct the situation. To achieve this, I worked day and night with my team. I can remember working from 6 a. m. and not going home until 2 a. m. the next day.
To make a long story short, we succeeded in solving all of the problems and at the same time increased our productivity(生产率). The customers and management were very happy, and I knew at that moment we had saved our jobs. Actually things went so well that we ended up having our pay doubled.
Through this experience I understand that you can achieve what you desire as long as you work at it and stay positive. The General Manager advised the author to look for a new job mainly because .
| A．he knew the author didn’t want to stay there |
| B．his company was too small to hire so many people |
| C．he believed the author could get more pay that way |
| D．the management was preparing to close the department |
Who caused the author to decide to change his situation?
| A．The hero in a movie. | B．His wife. |
| C．His boss. | D．The customers. |
How long did the author stay in his department every day during that month?
| A．8 hours. | B．15 hours. |
| C．20 hours. | D．24 hours. |
The experience of the author shows that .
| A．if a person does his best and keeps positive, he’ll succeed |
| B．if a person takes advice from others, he’ll make progress |
| C．if a person is clever, he’ll realize his dream sooner or later |
| D．if a person wants to change his fate, he mustn’t change his job |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．My Work Experience |
| B．My First Management Job |
| C．How to Correct Your Situation |
| D．The Importance of Working Hard |
Zhoukoudian is a small village situated about 50 kilometers to the southwest of Beijing. In the 1920s, archaeologists discovered some prehistoric human bones there which changed people’s view of China’s history. They came from an unknown species of man and were the first evidence of human life in China thousands of years ago. The remains were three teeth!
In 1929, a complete skull was also discovered. Eventually, archaeologists found almost 200 items, including six skulls and more than 150 teeth. These discoveries proved the existence of a human species who lived in the area between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago. Four sites where Beijing Man and his relatives lived were discovered on the northern face of Longgushan. They lived in the caves in the area.
However, the life span of Beijing Man was short. About 70% of the people probably died before the age of 14. Fewer than 5% lived to the age of 50. Ashes were found alongside the fossils which showed they had used fire for cooking food and also for light, warmth, and protection against wild animals. This is the earliest evidence of the use of fire anywhere in the world. They also made tools of bones and stones. Unfortunately, when Japan invaded China in 1937, excavations (发掘) at the Beijing Man Site stopped and most of the fossils disappeared, including a Beijing Man skull. After the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, the work started again.
Zhoukoudian was listed as a World Heritage Site in December 1987. It has not only given us important information about prehistoric Asian societies, but also provided amazing evidence about the process of evolution. Today, parts of the caves have been badly affected by rain. Some areas are almost completely covered in weeds, causing serious damage. Pollution from the nearby factories has also led to the problem. This is a very serious matter and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is trying to raise public awareness of protecting it. Archaeologists _________.
| A．thought that the findings in Zhoukoudian are the first evidence of human life in Asia |
| B．thought that the findings in Zhoukoudian wouldn’t change the history of China |
| C．discovered some prehistoric human bones in Zhoukoudian |
| D．thought that Zhoukoudian was a beautiful village |
Beijing Man used fire to do all of the following things EXCEPT _____.
| A．light in the dark | B．keep warm |
| C．scare wild animals away | D．make tools |
What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Zhoukoudian is a World Heritage Site. |
| B．Zhoukoudian is in great need of protection. |
| C．The digging of Zhoukoudian is still under way. |
| D．Zhoukoudian plays an important part in the study of prehistoric societies. |
People often said Thomas Edison was the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be pleased only because someone said he was a genius. "There is no such thing as genius," Edison said. He thought what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. He tried to understand them, and then he tried to learn what he could usefully do with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people would do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking could give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand how anyone could not be interested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what idea he had about life. “Work,” he answered, “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.According to Thomas Edison, what's genius?
| A．Hard thinking. | B．Useful inventions |
| C．Useful dreams. | D．Hard work. |
After exploring the secrets of nature, Edison always tried to______．
| A．make them useful in life |
| B．carry out a new experiment |
| C．write down what he had learnt |
| D．share them with others |
Edison could not understand______.
| A．how anybody enjoyed life |
| B．how anybody loved working |
| C．why anybody loved thinking |
| D．why anybody was tired of life |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that______．
| A．Edison was able to live another 100 years |
| B．life was too short for Edison to work for human beings |
| C．Edison was born to be a great inventor |
| D．Edison was ready to make his l00th invention |
Americans Spend Their Free Time In Various Ways
America is a country of sports—of hunting，fishing and swimming，and of team sports like baseball and football．Millions of Americans watch their favorite sports on television．They also like to play in community orchestras(管弦乐队)，make their own films or recordings，go camping，visit museums，attend lectures，travel，garden，read，and join in hundreds of other activities．The people also enjoy building things for their homes，sewing their own clothes，even making their own photographs．They do these things for fun as well as for economy．
But as much as Americans enjoy their free time，the country is at the same time a“self-improvement” country．More than 25 million adults continue their education，chiefly by going to school in the evening， during their own free time，at their own expense．Added to the time spent on personal activities，Americans a1so devote a great amount of their time to the varied needs of their communities．Many hospitals，schools，libraries，museums，parks，community centers，and organizations that assist the poor depend on the many hours citizens devote to these activities，often without any pay. Why do they do it?
There are several answers．The idea of cooperating and sharing responsibility with one another for the benefit of all is as old as the country itself．
When the country was first founded in 1776，it was necessary for the settlers to work together to live．They had crossed dangerous seas and risked all they had in their struggle for political and religious freedom．There remains among many Americans a distrust of central government．People still prefer to do things themselves within their communities，rather than give the government more control．
Sometimes people offer their time because they wish to accomplish something for which no money is paid，to do something that will be of benefit to the entire community．It is true that some people use their leisure because they are truly interested in the work；or they are learning from the experience．
No matter what the reason is，hundreds of thousands of so-called leisure hours are put into hard，unpaid work on one or another community need．The writer mentions the foundation of the country in order to indicate ____．
| A．the reason for Americans’ willingness to cooperate and share responsibility |
| B．the American people’s determination to live |
| C．the American people’s love for freedom |
| D．the early history of America |
Which of the following best explains the meaning of the underlined word “leisure”?
A．work time B. spare time C. energy C. effortThis passage is mainly about ________ ．
| A．how Americans are devoted to their community activities |
| B．why America is a “self-improvement” country |
| C．why America is a country of sports |
| D．how Americans spend their free time |
Let children learn to judge their own. A child who learns to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Little by little, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s, in the same way, children learn to do all the other things without being taught—to walk, run, climb, ride a bicycle—compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not. If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time in doing such work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.According to the passage, the best way for children to learn things is ___
| A．to listen to skilled people’s advice |
| B．to ask older people many questions |
| C．to make mistakes and have them corrected |
| D．to do what other people do |
According to the writer, teachers in school should ___
| A．allow children to learn from each other |
| B．point out children’s mistakes whenever they are found |
| C．correct children’s mistakes as possible as they can |
| D．give children more book knowledge |
Which of the following does the writer think teachers should not do?
| A．Give children correct answers |
| B．allow children to make mistakes |
| C．Point out children’s mistakes |
| D．Let children judge their own work |
The passage suggests that learning to speak and learning to ride a bicycle are ___.
| A．different from learning other skills |
| B．the same as learning other skills |
| C．more important than other skills |
| D．not really important skills |
Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. When people cheat, it’s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who were the true winners of a game.
Many people like the action of cheating. It makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won’t help on the next test --- unless the person cheats again.
Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and maybe at home, too.
Some kids cheat because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying. Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating, cheating isn’t a good idea.
If you were sick or upset about something the night before and couldn’t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.
A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions(解决办法) together. Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.The author thinks that when kids cheat in class, _______.
| A．it is unfair to other people |
| B．it does harm to their heath |
| C．teachers should punish them |
| D．teachers shouldn’t stop them at once |
Some students like cheating mainly because_________.
| A．the material in the test is very difficult |
| B．they want to do better than the others |
| C．cheating can make hard things seem very easy |
| D．they have little time to study their lessons |
We can learn from the passage______.
| A．cheaters are often thought highly of |
| B．people show no respect for those who cheat |
| C．parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble |
| D．kids cheat in the test because of swim practice |
In the passage those cheaters are advised to_______.
| A．spend more time on school than on sports |
| B．find good solutions instead of cheating |
| C．try hard to be intelligent rather than lazy |
| D．ask their classmates for good methods of study |