ThoughChineseisolderthanEnglis-优题课

Sir William Osler has a few words for you: “In the Life of a young man the most essential thing for happiness is the gift of friendship.” Truer words were never spoken. For what more could you ask than comradeship during the peaks and valleys of life? To whom else but a close, valuable friend can you show off your successes and complain about your failures or losses?
What is a “good friend”? How is he best described? Well, it has been my observation that although many will cry with you, few can sincerely rejoice (欣喜) with you. Therefore, in my opinion, a good friend is one who can enjoy your successes without envy; one who can say, “That was wonderful! You can do it again, even better if you want!” and mean it. Nothing taxes a friendship more than the prosperity of one and not the other. Even the closest of friendships often cannot resist such pressure and fail. No wonder many minor friendships go down day by day for the same reason.
A person of good character and sound moral, of honor and humor, of courage and belief is a friend to be sought and treasured — for there are few. Too often we hear, “If you can count your good friends on more than one hand, consider yourself blessed.”
What makes a friendship last? Well, I don’t know all the answers, but one of my observations is that most good friends usually have similar tastes. They generally like and dislike many of the same things. There also usually seems to exist a similarity of personality types — especially in the fundamental values of life such as honesty, sincerity, loyalty, and dependability. More often than not, birds of a feather do fly together. I don’t think it matters a lot whether one prefers jazz or hockey to another’s Mozart or ballet. Much other matters far more: relying, sharing, giving, getting, enjoying; a sympathetic ear always there; criticism when it can help; praise — even if only because it would help. With not many people on this earth will you find this much in common. When you find one, hang on to him, for a good friend found is a rare treasure.
1. The function of Paragraph 1 is to introduce _____.
A. a famous saying
B. the topic for discussion
C. a famous person
D. two different attitudes
2. What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
A. People don’t have to pay taxes to develop friendship with others.
B. Success of one person can promote his friendship with others.
C. Friendship can be affected by the difference in success between friends.
D. Nothing can affect friendship because it has gone through the peaks and valleys of life.
3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
A. One is lucky to have many friends.
B. A friend should have a good character.
C. We should count our friends on more than one hand.
D. A true friend should be treasured because there are few.
4. According to the passage, which of the following plays the LEAST important role in a long-lasting friendship?
A. Hobbies. B. Tastes.
C. Personality. D. Sympathy.

During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to another. Many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more. But we can overdo it, leaving our children feeling a little burnt out, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie, it's their school work that suffers the most. "After school, if they're busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they'll feel sleepy is in the classroom. Your child needs free time. So if you're filling up that after school time, then it's during the day that they're going to be taking a break. "
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there's a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those scheduled lessons and activities away. "Relaxing time is important for children. It's time just to do the things they want to do. A child can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn't look like productive time; parents certainly wouldn't be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, and it also helps to understand the learning that's gone on that day. "
It's hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. "When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we're doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill." So choose your children's activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you've ever done for your kids.
1. What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
A. They can get bored easily about everything.
B. They might have no time to do the homework.
C. They might not pay much attention to learning.
D. They can not easily focus on learning during the day.
2. What should we think of children's playing around aimlessly?
A. It is productive.
B. It is helpful.
C. It is a bad habit.
D. It is a waste of time.
3. Why should parents limit the activities our children attend?
A. Because children have no time.
B. Because children cannot learn many things.
C. Because children do not have enough sleep.
D. Because children cannot focus on too many activities.
4. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Don't be children's drivers after school.
B. Choose activities for your children wisely.
C. Make your children learn as much as possible.
D. Let children learn something from various subjects.

第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defense against getting ill, new study findings suggest.
In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny character were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a "positive emotional style" can help to protect us from suffering the common cold and other illnesses.
Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective — as in happiness improving immune function — and subjective — as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or runny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe."
Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional style itself had the effect.
For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality characteristics, self-felt health and emotional style. Those who had a tendency to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and aggressive had a negative style.
The researchers gave them nasal (鼻腔的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains or sneezing they had, while the researchers collected objective data. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal troubles, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.
1. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Stay Away from Being Negative
B. Positive or Negative？It’s Up to You.
C. Emotional Style and Flu.
D. Optimistic People Likely to Keep Diseases Away.
2. According to Dr Cohen’s research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold may be that _____.
A. their cheerful mood benefits the immune system
B. they have developed a certain way against flu virus
C. they are less likely to have a sore throat and runny nose
D. they have got a stronger self-confidence in their health
3. The research is done by _____.
A. getting volunteers in one emotional group and analyzing them
B. conducting a medical experiment on volunteers of different emotional styles
C. collecting and analyzing volunteers' objective nasal production data
D. having volunteers answer questions on personality, health and emotions
4. The passage is probably written for _____.
A. medical students B. lead authors C. the public D. the volunteers

Dear College Dean
It is my understanding that this college has received a large donation to be used to enhance (improve) the quality of life for students: expand the bookstore or add computers to the computer lab. It is the tradition of this school to promote education and to be at the vanguard of new technology. That is why I strongly argue in favor of the addition of more computers to the computer lab.
Although expanding the campus bookstore to include CDs, gifts, and a snack bar will give a nicer look to the college, we have to think about a greater goal and a more practical way to enhance the quality of life for students. What do we want for our students and our college? Do we want our college to be known as a place with a great bookstore where you can find CDs and gifts, or as a place where the students can explore and research in their field using the best tools provided by technology? In addition, there are already several snack bars on campus, and there are music stores nearby, so students do not depend on the college bookstore for these things.
We live in a highly technological world and computers play an increasingly important role in how we live. As a learning institution, this college has the responsibility to offer its students the best technology to help them prepare for their future. Many students will be expected to be familiar with the latest software and other tools when they go on to work or to graduate school.
While they are in college, students find they are expected to use computers. Many professors expect students to use computers to do homework or to complete projects. Students are asked to create PowerPoint presentations and use spreadsheets and database programs, as well as to research many topics on the Internet. Since students are competing for good grades, those who have limited access to computers are at a great disadvantage. Furthermore, being able to do projects using the computer enhances the process of learning, giving students the opportunity to find information that without a computer would be much more difficult to find.
If there are more computers, students will also be able to complete their work more efficiently. No more will they have to wait in line, paper and disk in hand, while scanning the room for an empty chair and computer. No longer will they have to sit and wait while an outdated computer struggles to follow their commands. Having more new and faster computers available will enable students to finish their work more quickly.
The more computers are used in society the more colleges will depend on them as a tool of teaching and learning. Making computers more available to students facilitates their learning process by making the process easier, more interesting, more engaging, and in the process enhancing their quality of life
1．The purpose of the author in writing the passage is____________.
A．to describe the problems caused by lack of computers
B．to explain why students are in great need of computers
C．to tell us what benefits students can gain from computers
D．to persuade the Dean to purchase more advanced computers
2．From the passage we can infer that_______________.
A．present computers in the college cannot meet the demands of the students
B．computers in the college will be updated to meet the student’s demands soon
C．the college has the responsibility to help the students to prepare for their future
D．it is also necessary to expand the college bookstore by using part of the donation
3．In paragraph 4, the author mainly wants to tell us that____________.
A．computers are beneficial to students’ academic success
B．computers are helpful to student’s competition for success
C．students find it convenient to do assignments by using computers
D．students wish to use the money to buy more advanced computers
4．Which of the following shows the organization of the passage?

Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.
When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not the desperate steeplechases（障碍赛跑） they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother—the same house my father was raised in, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.
The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from all the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.
Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else’s home on Sunday. But now the question is, “What do you plan to DO this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road race to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel sepia-toned, an echo from another era.
I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.
1．The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _______.
A. everyone was paying a visit to some relative far away
B. everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure
C. Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house
D. nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school
2．In the fourth paragraph, the writer compares the response “I’m making a Sunday visit to family” to an echo from another era because _______.
A. people nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday
B. such answers are rarely heard in our modern society
C. people in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday
D. visiting someone on Sunday might take a lot of time
3．From the last paragraph we may infer that _______.
A. people in Maine suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment
B. people in Maine has abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life
C. land in Maine is short, thus the relationship between people is tense
D. people in Maine always help each other when they are in need
4．Which word we may use to describe the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?
A. Unsatisfied. B. Anxious. C. Treasured. D. Teased.

A．a kind of food	B．a city in Germany
C．the name of a village	D．a round piece of beef.

A．Germans	B．Americans
C．Chinese	D．we don’t know