Many of us mistakenly believe that it’s wrong to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance. However, a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people. How can we believe that others could like us if we believe our inner being is flawed?
If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn’t like you might be fearful, or shallow or busy or shy. Perhaps you and that person are simply a mismatch for each other at this particular time.
Don’t take yourself out of the game by deciding that your flaws are bigger than your good qualities. In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else. Although some factors that might cause one person to reject you, there are at least many factors that will work in your favor.
You might be thirty pounds over your ideal weight, but you may have a wonderful laugh and a real enthusiasm for life. There are many people who don’t mind your extra pounds. You may drive a shabby car, but you might be a great dancer and a loyal friend. There are people out there looking for loyalty, or fun, or sweetness, or wisdom, and the package it comes in is not important. If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends. You can decide to feel inferior because you don’t have much money and you don’t drive a nice car. You can believe that this is the reason
that you don’t have many friends in your life. On the other hand, if you are very wealthy you may be suspicious that everyone is after your money and that nobody really likes you as a person.
The point is that you can focus on just about anything and believe it’s the reason you do not have friends and cannot make any.According to the passage, plays an important role in making friends.
| A．admitting your shortcomings | B．self criticism |
| C．modesty | D．confidence |
If you are not liked by a person, .
| A．you should find the reason in yourself |
| B．you’d better talk with the person face to face |
| C．you may not be the one to be blamed |
| D．you and that person misunderstand each other |
We can learn from the third paragraph that .
| A．your good qualities may make you earn more money |
| B．your weakness may also be your strengths in some way |
| C．your negative qualities may cause you to lose friends |
| D．you’ll have few friends if you don’t share the same interest |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the author?
| A．It is important to lose weight. |
| B．It is easier for a wealthy person to make friends. |
| C．Inner qualities are more important than physical appearance. |
| D．If you are not beautiful enough, try to improve your physical beauty. |
What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?
| A．How to find your good qualities. | B．How to make friends. |
| C．How to make self criticism. | D．How to keep fit. |
A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation…‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.
The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t), in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (鼓舞) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal（嗓音的） pattern.
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door. What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?
| A．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society. |
| B．The recorder was impatient and rude. |
| C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced. |
| D．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was. |
How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?
| A．curious | B．indifferent | C．interested | D．puzzled |
Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?
| A．Because the author cared little about rewards. |
| B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab. |
| C．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of. |
| D．Because she thought the author did admirable work. |
What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it. |
| B．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily. |
| C．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect. |
| D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work. |
Listening to a radio broadcast in a foreign language is difficult for many of us. We may have studied the language for several years, and are able to read it, perhaps even write in it. But listening and understanding the spoken language require special skills. Some people have a natural ability that helps them to learn a language quickly, while others must study for a long time. Everyone, however, can improve his or her listening skills with practice.
We are good listeners in our own language because we have had years of practice. We understand the grammar and the language. We know what to expect a person to say to us in almost any situation. We have been in similar situations many times, and we have heard it all before. We can understand it, even if we do not listen carefully.
But this is not true with a foreign language. We must listen with our full attention. And we must try not to let the cultural style of our language affect our understanding of the foreign language. Listening to a foreign language broadcast is easier if we know something about it. There are clues that can help us. One clue is the time of a day. Morning programs usually contain many short items of news, information or entertainment. The items are short because most of us are getting ready to go to work in the morning. Often we do not have time to listen to long programs. Evening programs are different. There is time for more details about the subjects discussed.
We can get a clue about the program from the music at the beginning, but we must be familiar with the music of the foreign culture. The kind of music—serious and slow, or fast and light—can tell us what kind of program to expect. The name of the program can give us good information about what it will contain.
Another good clue is the broadcaster. The more we listen to the same person, the easier it will be to understand him. His speaking style will become familiar to us. Further, the broadcaster provides clues to the organization of the broadcast at the beginning of the program. The broadcaster usually gives us the highlights of the program to prepare us for the details that will follow.We are good listeners in our own language because ________.
| A．we have a natural ability of learning language | B．our own language is much easier |
| C．we listen to our own language more carefully | D．we have practiced it for years |
If you don’t have enough time, you can listen to ________.
| A．evening programs | B．programs with soft music |
| C．morning programs | D．familiar programs |
You can know the information of the program according to ________.
| A．its music | B．the broadcaster |
| C．its name | D．the time of the program |
Some weight-loss camps, which are rare in China just a few years ago, have sprouted in Beijing, Qingdao, Shenzhen, and other cities. Today about 15 percent of adults, or 200 million Chinese, are reportedly overweight. Of these, 90 million—about 7 percent—are obese（极肥胖的）.
Experts say the obesity epidemic is spreading to children, though more slowly than in adults. The trend, they say, will have a huge impact on the health of China’s citizens and economy. “We’re seeing a very large proportion of children and adolescents who are quite heavy and aren’t moving much,” said Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor. Popkin carries out an ongoing health-and-nutrition survey of 16,000 households in China. He says more kids today are overeating and putting on weight “quite quickly”. In just ten years China’s childhood obesity rate has doubled, with the greatest gains coming in urban areas. “In big cities it’s a big problem.”
Some experts blame the extra fat on a range of factors, many of them tied to China’s rapidly changing economy and culture. The diets of Chinese adults and children are far higher in calorie-laden meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, fats, and sugars than ever before. In addition, kids—especially city dwellers—are more sedentary today and spend more time indoors in front of homework, television, computer games, and the Internet.
Shuwen Ng, a health economist, says that kids in China now have pocket money, and they spend a portion of it on junk food. Ng adds that advertising and peer groups influence kids’ food choices. Certain foods, such as new candies or fast food, have attractive features.
China’s childhood obesity rate still lags that of the United States, where some 15 percent of kids are said to be obese. But the long-term effects are equally serious.According to the passage we know ________.
| A．weight-loss camps was very popular in China six years ago |
| B．about 290 million Chinese are overweight in China in all |
| C．in China childhood obesity rate in rural areas is lower than that in major cities |
| D．America’s childhood obesity rate is lower than China’s |
Which of the following is NOT the reason of China’s childhood obesity?
| A．Advertising on some new candies | B．High quality diets |
| C．Playing computer games for long time | D．Having pocket money |
The underlined word “sedentary” in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．attentive | B．earnest | C．absent | D．inactive |
According to the passage we can infer ________.
| A．obesity explosion in China will affect the United States |
| B．there are great difference in kids’ food choices now |
| C．junk food contributes to childhood obesity |
| D．city children eat more than rural children |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Chinese Childhood Obesity Explosion |
| B．Weight-loss Camps in China |
| C．Obesity Explosion’s Impacts On Chinese Economy |
| D．Obesity Explosion In China And America |
Introductory Chemistry was taught at Duke University for many years by professor Bonk. One year, two guys took the class and did pretty well on all the quizzes and mid-terms. They each had a solid A. These two friends were so confident in going into the final that the weekend before finals week, despite the Chemistry final being on Monday, they decided to go to the University of Virginia to party with some friends.
They had a great time there. However, with their hangovers（宿醉）and tiredness, they overslept all day Sunday and didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they found professor Bonk after the final and explained to him how they missed the final. They told him they went up to the University of Virginia for the weekend and had planned to come back in time to study, but they had a flat tire on the way back and didn’t have a spare. So they were late getting back to campus.
Bonk thought this over and agreed that they could take the final the following day. The two guys, happy and relieved, studied that night and went in the next day at the time that Bonk had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet. He told them to begin.
They looked at the first problem which was something simple about solution（溶解）. It was worth 5 points. “Cool,” they thought, “this is going to be an easy final”. They then turned the page. They were unprepared, however, for what they saw on it. The question contained only two words: (95 points) Which tire? The two guys decided to go to the University of Virginia because ________.
| A．they were afraid of the final | B．there was a party there |
| C．the final would be held there | D．they thought they can pass the final easily |
From the passage we know ________.
| A．the two guys came back to campus late on purpose |
| B．Bonk wasn’t strict with the two guys |
| C．repairing the flat tire took the two guys a lot of time |
| D．Bonk didn’t believe the two guys’ explanation |
After the final, they ________.
| A．may apology to professor Bonk | B．must have the same scores |
| C．wouldn’t be confident in their Chemistry | D．would feel happy and relieved |
From the passage we can get a lesson that ________.
| A．he who makes no mistakes makes nothing | B．he is wise that is honest |
| C．one never loses anything by politeness | D．think twice before you do |
“As sure as you’re alive now, Peter Rabbit, some day I will catch you,” shouted Reddy Fox, as he put his black nose in the hole between the roots of the Big Hickory-tree which grows close to the Smiling Pool. “It is lucky for you that you were not one jump farther away from this hole.”
Peter, safe inside that hole, didn’t have a word to say, or, if he did, he didn’t have breath enough to say it. It was quite true that if he had been one jump farther from that hole, Reddy Fox would have caught him. As it was, the hairs on Peter’s funny white tail actually had tickled Reddy’s back as Peter ran wildly through the root-bound entrance to that hole. It had been the narrowest escape Peter had had for a long, long time. You see, Reddy Fox had surprised Peter eating sweet clover（苜蓿）on the bank of the Smiling Pond, and it had been a lucky thing for Peter that hole, dug long ago by Johnny Chuck’s grandfather, had been right where it was. Also, it was a lucky thing that old Mr. Chuck had been wise enough to make the entrance between the roots of that tree in such a way that it could not be dug any larger.
Reddy Fox was too shrewd（机灵的）to waste any time trying to dig it larger. He knew there wasn’t room enough for him to get between those roots. So, after trying to make Peter as uncomfortable as possible by telling him what he, Reddy, would do to him when he did catch him, Reddy walked across the Green Meadows. Peter remained where he was for a long time. When he was quite sure that it was safe to do so, he crawled out and hurried to the Old Orchard. He felt that that would be the safest place for him, because there were ever so many hiding places in the old stone wall along the edge of it. Where is Peter Rabbit hiding?
| A．On the bank of a pond | B．In a hole |
| C．In a tall tree | D．Behind a room |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the story?
| A．Reddy Fox might find rabbit hairs on him. |
| B．Old Mr. Chuck took advantage of the roots to dig the hole. |
| C．The hole could be made larger. |
| D．Reddy almost caught Peter this time. |
Why did Peter Rabbit wait so long before leaving?
| A．Because Reddy was trying to get him. |
| B．Because it was cold outside. |
| C．Because his grandfather would help him dig a large hole. |
| D．Because the Old Orchard was not so safe as this hole. |