In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity; others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect. |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition |
Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
| A．It pushes society forward. |
| B．It builds up a sense of duty. |
| C．It improves personal abilities. |
| D．It encourages individual efforts. |
What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail ?
| A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others. |
| B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts. |
| C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills. |
| D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried. |
Which point of view may the author agree to?
| A．Every effort should be paid back. |
| B．Competition should be encouraged. |
| C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter. |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
Animation means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.
Since earliest times, people have always been astonished by movement. But not until last century had we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it. To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector (放映机).
In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do.
A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties. Felix was a wonderful cat. He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.
Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928. Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Flcischer in 1933.
But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional. It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. All you have to do is to draw directly onto an empty film and then run the film through a projector.
What does the passage mainly discuss?
| A．Animal world | B．Movie camera | C．Cartoon making | D．Movement |
Which of the following statements is True?
| A．People were unable to recreate the movement or record it in the nineteenth century. |
| B．Pat Sullivan was a famous early cartoon character. |
C．It is impossible to make cartoon characters to do what they are designed to  do. |
| D．Only professional animators can make animated films. |
According to the passage, Felix the Cat _________.
| A．was created by the American cartoonist Felix. |
| B．was designed by Pat Sullivan in the early twentieth century. |
C．was unable to do what natural cats could not do.  |
| D．was created in the United States in the nineteenth century. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．Walt Disney’s cartoon characters were born earlier than Pat Sullivan’s. |
| B．only professionals can create cartoon character |
| C．Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyo were famous cartoonists. |
| D．the cartoon industry started in the United States. |
Western New Bridge Library Announcement
| Shortened Library Hours for Spring Break |
| Library Hours have been shortened to 7 hours a day (9:00 a.m. – 4:00p.m.) for Spring Break from March 24 to March 30. |
| Coming Events |
| lOn Monday, March 24, at 10:30 a.m., Scott Sutton, a children’s writer, will tell stories to kid over seven. Sutton’s attractive style will surely inspire everyone present! lAt 1:00 p.m., on March 26, the Geogetown Musicians will present an Irish Folk Concert, which will be entertaining for the entire family. Come for the music and stay to check out some relevant books for the rest of the week! lOn Thursday, March 27, at 2:00 p.m., the annual Children’s Gathering will take place in Room 201, the second-floor. Pick up an invitation in the Children’s Room and return your RSVP(回复) to reserve your seat at the table by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25. Only children are allowed in the Gathering. lAt 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Marc  h 28, Enzo Monfre of the hit kid’s science show, Enzoology, will bring Fossils Live! Surely Enzo will take the audience back in time, deep beneath the surface of the earth, to uncover the mysteries of killer dinosaurs, and more. Enzo recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show—come and see him at the library! |
| Please note：In case of emergency, please call the Help Desk at 926-3736 and follow the procedures outlined on the voice message. The call-down service is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies. The Help Desk supplies service to you all the year around! For questions about all these, please contact hld@wnbl.corg. |
| Come for the great Fun; Stay for the relevant Books! |
To attend the annual Children’s Gathering, one has to _____.
| A．buy a ticket | B．apply in advance |
| C．make a reservation | D．contact the call-down service |
According to the passage, Enzo Monfre will ______.
| A．show the children around a zoo |
| B．tell stories to children over seven |
| C．be present at the science show in person |
| D．lead the children to the Ellen DeGeneres Show |
We can learn from the passage that children can ______.
| A．attend all the activities with their parents |
| B．borrow some relevant books for the activities. |
| C．participate in the activities form 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
| D．choose only one of the activities according to their interest |
Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn(独
角兽). Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn.
According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely careful as it was very fierce and dangerous. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this amazing animal without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn dashed angrily. Hopefully, the creature could then be caught when its horn was stuck in the tree.
When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to offer protection against person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed-by drinking the contents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn” horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at times the rhino(犀牛) was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.
Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn?
| A．It was not historically recorded |
| B．Its horn was first used in France |
| C．It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx |
| D．It could be the symbol of a university |
To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT ____.
| A．attracting the unicorn to attack |
| B．making use of the tree as a defense |
| C．hiding quickly behind the unicorn |
| D．having the unicorn horn stuck in the tree |
The last paragraph is mainly about ____.
| A．the functions of the unicorn horn |
| B．the users of the unicorn horn |
| C．the price of the unicorn horn |
| D．the comparison between the unicorn horn and the rhino horn |
Several hundred strangers received “love letters” from a young man on the street. The letter was written and given out by Yang Yang, a student majoring in human resources at Chongqing University of Science and Technology，who hoped to show his disappointment with job hunting.
Yang’s story has caught media attention perhaps because it is similar to those of millions of recent graduates seeking jobs and struggling for survival in the country’s wealthiest cities. They have diplomas, rather than professional skills，and come to big cities in hopes of better lives, only to find low-paying jobs and poor living conditions.
They are China’s “ant tribe(蚁族)”, a term created by sociologist Lian Si from Peking University in his 2009 book, Ant Tribe. “They’re so similar to ants. They share small and narrow living areas. They’re intelligent and hard-working, yet nameless and underpaid.” The term also speaks to their helplessness in a world governed by the law of the jungle -- only the strongest survive.
A survey in Lian’s another book published this year, Ant Tribe II, found nearly 30 percent of “ants” are graduates of famous universities—almost three times last year’s percentage. Most had degrees in popular majors. In addition, 7.2 percent of "ants" have at least a master’s degree compared to 1.6 percent in 2009.
An “ant’s” average monthly salary is l, 904 yuan, with about 64 percent of them earning less than 2,000 yuan a month.
Another survey in the 2010 Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Talent found more than 1 million “ants” live in big cities.
“Most ants are from rural families or small towns, and their experiences in universities didn’t arm them well enough to fight with competitors in big cities’ employment markets.” Professor Zhang Ming at Renmin University of China said.
The “ant tribe’s” embarrassing living situations have become a serious social problem, and the government should develop smaller 
cities to attract more graduates from big cities, Zhang
believed.
However, “ants” expect more study and training opportunities in big cities, which keeps them positive despite their situations.Yang’s story is introduced in order to_________.
| A．analyze graduates’ difficulties in finding jobs |
| B．lead to the topic of the article—“ant tribe” |
| C．tell readers a story about those big cities |
| D．show a clever way of dealing with pressure |
The “ants” fail to find high-paying jobs mainly because__________.
| A．they have no diplomas from good universities |
| B．their majors do not meet the needs of society |
| C．those from rural areas are not treated equally |
| D．they do not have necessary professional skills |
“Ant tribe” members are similar to ants in the following aspects EXCEPT that_________.
| A．they live in narrow and small places in groups |
| B．they work hard but earn little for survival |
| C．they are in a world judged by the jungle law |
| D．they are pleased with being nameless and underpaid |
Professor Zhang thought “ants” problems could be solved by__________.
| A．creating more jobs for graduates in big cities |
| B．developing smaller cities to attract graduates |
| C．sending graduates to rural areas and small towns |
| D．training graduates to improve their ability |
It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing past someone in
a narrow aisle, people s
ay “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others sometimes can’t be avoided, and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of communicating with people.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and retail assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In G
ermany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers stressed several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is shown in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted.What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?
| A．He thinks it is artificial | B．He gives no personal opinion |
C．He appreciates it |
D．He thinks it goes too far. |
What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?
| A．A customer never says thank you to a retail assistant. |
| B．It’s always a retail assistant who says thank you. |
| C．They may say thank you only once. |
| D．they always say thank you to each other. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men ___________.
| A．are more likely to be involved in a fighting. |
| B．are more polite than English men. |
| C．treat women in a polite way. |
| D．are not so willing to spend money for women. |
The author develops the text through the method of ____________.
| A．making comparisons | B．telling stories |
| C．giving comments | D．giving reasons |