The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. It you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would hive her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’s be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.
Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious. Automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine; the latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.The passage mainly deals with .
| A.the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer |
| B.the relationship between genius and success |
| C.the decisive factor in making a genius |
| D.the way of gaining some sense of distinction |
By reading novels and writers’ stories, the girl could .
| A.come to understand the inner structure of writing |
| B.join a fascinating circle of writers someday |
| C.share with a novelist her likes and dislikes |
| D.learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security |
In the girl’s long painstaking training process, ________.
| A.her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success |
| B.her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance |
| C.she acquires the magic of some great achievement |
| D.she comes to realize she is “hard-wired” to write |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A.A fueling ambition plays a leading role in one’s success |
| B.A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing. |
| C.As to the growth of a genius, I.Q. doesn’t matter, but just his/her effort. |
| D.What really matters is what you do rather than who you are. |
Section B
Directions: Read the following four passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
The professor stood before his class of 30 senior molecular (分子) biology students, about to pass out the final exam. “I have been honored to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test,” he said to them. “I am well aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your GPAs (平均成绩) up, and because I know your are all capable of understanding this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic “B” to anyone who would prefer not to take the final.”
The relief was audible as a number of students jumped up to thank the professor and left the class. The professor looked at the handful of students who remained, and offered again, “Any other takers? This is your last opportunity.” One more student decided to go.
There were seventeen students left. The professor closed the door and took attendance. Then he handed out the final exam.
There were two sentences typed on the paper: “Congratulations, you have just received an ‘A’ in this class. Keep believing in yourself!”
I never had a professor who gave a test like that. It’s a test that any teacher in any course could and should give. Students who don’t have confidence in what they’ve learned are “B” students at best.
The same is true for students of real life. The “A” students are those who believe in what they’re doing because they’ve learned from both successes and failures. They’ve absorbed life’s lessons, whether from formal education or the school of hard knocks, and become better people.
Don’t let the biggest limit be yourself.
1. The professor offered an automatic “B” to those who would prefer not to take the final because ________.
A. he thought all of his students had prepared for the test well
B. he believed all the students were able to pass the exam
C. he didn’t want to put too much pressure on his students
D. he intended to tell the students about the importance of confidence
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All the students feel at easy before the exam.
B. 22 students got a “B” in the final test without doing the paper.
C. There were no problems on the test paper for the students to work out.
D. The way the professor tested the students would be unsuitable for other subjects.
3. According to the author, the test given by the professor is ________.
A. funny B. instructive C. confusing D. inappropriate
4. The point of the story is to advise readers ________.
A. to stay focused on what they can do
B. to surround themselves with confident people
C. not to put up with being second best
D. not to let themselves be the biggest obstacles to their growth
If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion; they are always taken advantage of by the designers and big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. Women usually stand in front of a wardrobe full of clothes, announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the international creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women , who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital thing like warmth, comfort and durability(持久性). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or deliberately picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusion to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes, one wonders, reflect qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.
1. Designers and big stores always make money _______.
A. by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry.
B. because they are capable of predicting new fashions.
C. by constantly changing the fashions in women’s clothing
D. because they attach great importance to quality in women’s clothing.
2. To the writer, the fact that women put aside their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ________.
A. a waste of money B. a waste of time
C. an expression of taste D. an expression of creativity
3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation of women.
B. The constant changes in women’s clothing reflect their strength of character.
C. the fashion industry makes an important contribution to society.
D. Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women.
4. By saying “the conclusion to be drawn are obvious”, the writer means that________.
A. women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at.
B. women are better able to put up with discomfort.
C. men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers.
D. men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion.
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Section B
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just £90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself—and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret. “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”
1.Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______.
A. she wanted to earn more money to support her family
B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C. she needed the right time to look after her children
D. she felt tired of taking care of patients
2.Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because _______.
A. they never clean their offices B. they look down upon cleaners
C. they never do their work carefully D. they always make a mess in their offices
3.When at work, Margaret feels _______.
A. light-hearted because of her fellow workers B. happy because the building is fully lit
C. tired because of the heavy workload D. bored because time passed slowly
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _______.
A. help care for her children B. regret what they had said
C. show sympathy for her D. feel disappointed in her
In 1961, scientist set up gigantic, sensitive instruments to collect radio waves from the far reaches of space, hoping to discover in them some mathematical pattern indicating that the waves were sent out by other intelligent beings. The first attempt failed, but someday the experiment may succeed.
What reason is there to think that we may actually detect intelligent life in outer space?To begin with, modern theories of the development of stars suggest that almost every star has some sort of family of planets. So any star like our own sun (and there are billions of such stars in the universe) is likely to have a planet situated at such a distance that it would receive about the same amount of radiation as the earth.
Furthermore, such a planet would probably have the same general composition as our planet; so, allowing a billion years or two or three, there would be a very good chance for life to develop, if current theories of the origin of life are correct.
But intelligent life?Life that has reached the stage of being able to send radio waves out into space in a deliberate pattern?Our own planet may have been in existence for five billion years and may have had life on it for two billion, but it is only in the last fifty years that intelligent life capable of sending radio waves into space has lived on earth. From this it might seem that even if there were no technical problems involved, the chance of receiving signals from any particular earth-type planet would be extremely small.
This does not mean that intelligent life at our level does not exist somewhere. There are such an unimaginable number of stars that, even at such miserable possibility, it seems certain that there are millions of intelligent life forms scattered through space. The only trouble is, none may be within easy distance of us. Perhaps none ever will be; perhaps the distances that separate us from our fellow “creatures” of this universe will forever remain too great to be conquered. And yet it is conceivable that someday we may come across one of them or, frighteningly, one of them may come across us. What would they be like, these outside-the-earth creatures?
1.What point is the author making by stating that almost every star has some sort of family of planets?
A. Sooner or later intelligent beings will be found on one of the stars.
B. There must be one or two of the planets on which there are no intelligent beings.
C. There are sufficient planets for there to be one that enjoys the same conditions as the earth does.
D. One or two billion years later intelligent beings will generate on those planets.
2.What is the main topic of the passage?
A. Some probable intelligent life forms on other planets.
B. Various stages undergone by the intelligent life on other planets.
C. Grounds for probable existence of intelligent life on other planets.
D. The possibility of intelligent life existing on our planet.
3.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. An encounter is probable between people from the earth and intelligent beings from another planet.
B. Though the first attempt failed, scientists did discover the radio waves sent out by other intelligent beings.
C. Other intelligent beings were able to send our radio waves into space well before the last fifty years.
D. It is certain that there are millions of intelligent beings scattered in space but only too far away.
4.According to the author, what is the difference between “we may come across one of them” and “one of them may come across us”?
A. The earth would be dangerously disadvantaged if it is sought after by possibly much more developed creatures.
B. It would prove that there are too many outside-the-earth creatures if “one of them comes across us”.
C. The history of the development of the earth would be proved to be shorter than that of “them” if “they” come across us.
D. it would prove that the distance in between is not so great as we think if “we come across one of them” someday.